Those are pricey, but I like the idea of adding more insulation/shading to a wall section and having useable water storage space. I wonder if something concepually similar could be found for cheaper.

yep just drilled holes and covered them with a piece of screen

Are you guys having to winterize them or what.

what was the purpose of venting ?

This is my first go around with water barrels, but I do have some 5 gal MWC that I bring inside for winter time. sadly ill probably drain the barrels. I need to figure something out for year round though.

The don't fill right/don't equalize correctly if you don't vent them. I'm not sure of the science behind it but they have to be vented in order al all contain the same amount and equalize themselves

I do understand that,,I did my coke bottle experiment, vented and unvented, when the 2nd bottle had cap on, it wouldnt fill up, took cap off and it equalized.

maybe cause my barrels have removable lid, they arent sealed "sealed", mine equalized fine without a vent hole...

Right now I have my 300 gal tank unhooked from the gutters. Over time, a beam in my barn started to sag, and after I leveled the beam the roof leaked (I guess jacking it up pulled the tin apart a little bit) Anyway, I used asphalt tar to seal the seams.

How long should I wait before resuming water collection? If ever? The water goes to my horse and plants.

A friend of my wife's just bought a new house with a 9 barrel rain catch. He wanted it gone so it's sitting outside on my trailer.

I gotta figure out where I'll set it up.

those waterhogs look amazing, but damn! I have 5 barrels set up around my house in DFW and I'm into it under $100. I had a side shed, so I put 3 up on blocks, plumbed in parallel. Basically the hose connectors drilled into the bottom and regular garden hose cut to feed them. sealed with silicone. Mounting those are a pain in the ass because you have to climb face first into the barrel.

they get fed by flex pipe from the gutter, then through a screen into the first barrel to clean debris. another hose works as an overflow in the first barrel. The barrels are open at the top but screened in. This helps with pressure and keeps mosquitos out.

The other 2 are 1 each at the corners of the house. we got one fancy one that collects from a leaky spot in the gutters I can't reach to fix. that's in front and it's all painted and fancy, looks good. The other is in the back yard and just fills from flex gutter. All of these have spigots at the bottom to fill watering cans.

We mostly use them to drip irrigate the foundation of the house in the summer. IDK why that's a thing, but you have to do it here. Wife also fills watering pots right out of it.

I have a water cooler in the house we drink out of (like from an office). clean water is 35 cents a gallon. So I have maybe 7 of those, always have 2 full and hidden for back ups. rotate the others through.

So in a pinch I have 10-35 gallons of clean, drinkable water before resorting to the barrels. afterwards I have 250+ gallons I can clean or boil and drink. it's nice to water stuff with no water bill.

They fill up stupid fast. I was going to figure out a way to collect off 100% of the roof, as I have maybe 25% covered. But we got a light drizzle for a few hours and they will full the the brim. I like that they automatically cycle clean water through if I don't even drink it, too.

Well, was checking on the barrels and seen some leakage..First I had it from where the hose clamps bit into the plastic cross over peices, got some better hose and then the plastic connector that goes into the barrel was leaking, tried to tighten it up, and it basically stripped out. Going with Brass fitting, Ive got it temp'd right now. Also put valves in between so Im not draining all the barrels to fix one (my middle barrel was leaking). Its fixed now, ill replace the plastic pieces on the first and last barrel.

So, lesson learned.....for those playing at home, get good metal (brass, copper, galvanized) fittings. Not the plastic crap....

This is what I shoulda went with in the first place....

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01C9A382A?tag=vglnk-c102-20