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It hasn’t rained much since we bought the farm in 2022. But things are about to change this year, as we’re expecting a lot of rain in the coming months.
This article is about the upgrades in rainwater harvesting system, where I will install the gutters on the roofs to collect rainwater with a bucket.
I Missed the First Rain
It rained a lot the night before I wrote this article. I wanted to come yesterday, but it didn’t work out.
I needed to be here to observe the behavior of the water, and see where I need to make swales.
The idea is to make ditches to divert and retain water in certain places, and thus keep the soil moist where necessary for as long as possible.
Drone Flight
Today I’m going to take advantage of the cool weather to take a drone flight. I’m going to observe the landscape and also see what the vegetation is like in after the rain.
Everything was very dry due to the lack of rain, but after 37 mm of rain, you can see in the photo how moist everything is. Fantastic!
Primitive Water Collection
Since we don’t have a water source on the farm, at least not yet, as the well needs to be restored before we can use its water.
I’ve always been thinking of an alternative solution to this problem. Rainwater harvesting was the solution I decided to follow.
After some research on the topic, it became clear to me that the simplest solution would be to collect rainwater using a tarp and a bucket.
You can see in the photo that the bucket is full. 50 liters of rainwater were collected from yesterday’s rain. It’s amazing how efficient this primitive rainwater collection system is.
Portable Solar System
Since we are off the grid, another problem we face is not having electricity. Having a portable solar system is essential to carrying out the projects here on the farm.
Since I am expanding the water system, I need to wash some IBCs that are very dirty. I will use the portable power system I got from ALLPOWERS to power the jet washer.
After spending a few hours washing the IBC in the photo above, which was very dirty, I finally managed to get it very clean.
Delivery of Materials
I still need one more IBC tote to complete the pair that makes up the 2000-liter water tank that I am going to build in the coming months.
Last night I got the contact from a supplier in Tarragona. I was able to buy the IBC tote that was missing, and also other needed materials.
It was a busy morning, as I went to Tarragona to buy the IBC tote and other materials that were missing to upgrade the rainwater harvesting system.
I paid 75 euros for this used IBC tote. In Obramat, a new one cost over 350 euros. It was fairly cheap!
Installing the Gutters
I started this water storage system about 2 years ago. I have been building it in stages.
Installing the gutters on the roof is an important step, as I will start collecting rainwater.
At this stage, I will start collecting rainwater using the roof, gutters and bucket. I will transfer the water from the bucket to the tanks using a 12v water pump.
I know this setup is primitive. I’ll be updating it soon. The most important thing is to collect rainwater.
I am one step closer to start collecting rainwater at our abandoned farm in Spain.
And talking about rainwater, look at the sky. It looks like it’s going to rain tomorrow.
Rain, Lots of Rain
It rained. And it didn’t just rain yesterday. It rained a lot in the months since I wrote this article.
Since I upgraded the water system, it has rained over 200mm of rain.
I collected rainwater, lots of rainwater. The primitive rainwater collection system with roof, gutters and bucket works perfectly. I’m very happy with the results!
I can say that collecting rainwater is underrated.
Rainwater Harvesting Begins at Our Spanish Farm
Since this article is just a summary of what happened during the week I spent at the farm, I recorded a video showing in detail how everything happened. From the first rain, to the installation of the gutters and rainwater collection.
Watch the video:
In the video above you will see in details: The preparation and upgrades of the water system before the first rain, and also what happened in the coming rainly months.
Learn more about us here 🙂
Conclusion
In this article, you followed part of our journey, where we made some upgrades to the water system to collect rainwater in a primitive way using roof, gutters and buckets. Updates coming soon!
That’s it for this article. Did you like it?
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Talk to you soon 🙂
P.S. If you would like to help us build our dream home, you can do it here. Or if you would like to help us continue recording videos, you can do it here. Either way, your support is very much appreciated.
