Anyone redirected roof water to rainwater collection barrel in backyard?

We have had ongoing backup problems even after snaking the system several times per year, and they seem to happen after heavy rain. I’m wondering if anyone has taken pressure off of their system by redirecting water to a backyard water barrel catchment and if so, how you did it and what needed to be filed. Thanks.

gardenerbk

in About Brooklyn 11 years and 4 months ago

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deanbh | 11 years and 4 months ago

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Rain barrels can come a lot bigger than 120 gallon. Google some of the Australian ones where it is now law on new developments to do these and you’ll see what you can do. Often modular to run along a fence line etc you can get several thousand liters.

Arkady | 11 years and 4 months ago

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I used the excavated soil to level the garden. If you’re on a slope you can probably do the same.

parkslopemom | 11 years and 4 months ago

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The other factor is the depth of your backyard. I was told in order to funnel rain water from the roof out into french drains or pits as described above, there needed to be a minimum of 125 feet between the back of my house and the rear of the house behind me. Since our yards are not that deep, I was told my only option would be to hook up a rain barrel that would collect water from the down drain, then re-direct the runoff back into the outgoing sewer line that runs through the cellar of the house. I have not been able to do this yet, as we have air conditioning units right up against the back of the house where the down drain runs before it goes into the ground and back into the outgoing sewer line. A neighbor extended their downspout out into their yard and into a gravel trench, but were sued when the house behind them flooded following several really heavy rains.

gardenerbk | 11 years and 4 months ago

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There may be a lot of digging in my near future. Thanks.

thetinkerswagon | 11 years and 4 months ago

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yes, it could be quite an undertaking and if it got any bigger, I would have rented a machine. see what arkady says as it sounds a lot like what I did with casual labor. also, be careful as letting a man work in something that deep can be dangerous and against the law without support. we have clay here so I was not worried about a collapse. also, there are other things that come into play, in addition to soil conditions, ground water level for instance. we also hit a lot of big rocks and lucked out as the neighbor wanted them. there is a lot of dirt to get rid of when this is done. Not being an expert, I laid mine out so that I could add to it easily if it did not do the trick. like another 5′ deep trench running diagonally. was not needed though. very happy.

Arkady | 11 years and 4 months ago

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I did mine w/ casual labor. An 8-foot-deep trench roughly 18″ wide laterally across my garden around 15′ out from the house foundation. Then about an inch of pea grit to set a big pvc pipe w/ holes drilled in it. Landscape fabric over that. Rocks in decreasing size up to the top. Final 4 to 6 inches white landscape rocks. I eventually laid some slate over half of the top on the downhill side (garden’s level but I’m on a slope) to enlarge patio area. It has worked like a charm for 20 years or so.

cmu | 11 years and 4 months ago

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Good description, twg, but in that case the barrel is providing minimum cachement. Also I imagine it’s quite expensive to dig so deep a trench?

thetinkerswagon | 11 years and 4 months ago

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with a combination of rock and sand and a barrel and maybe some large piping with holes drilled in it and a lot of digging you can do something that will take up a substantial amount of water. Read about “french drains”. we did it here with success. The DEP is starting to do similar things around the city to catch rainwater – they call them “gravel beds”. Dug into the ground and filled with stone with soil on top, the pressure from the weight of the water above (me thinks) pushes or disperses the lower water into the ground. I am not an engineer, but after thinking about these a bit and after installing one here, I suspect that is how it works. When I did mine I made a pit 8′ down by 36″ around and connected to a trench that ran from 1′ to 5′ in depth. I laid some pipe in it and back filled it with stone, cloth, sand, and finally bricks. I also made some connecting trenches a bit smaller and filled them with stone and top soil. my neighbor watched this entire operation while making comments about my losing my mind; it works and works well. be aware it was not a small under taking.

cmu | 11 years and 4 months ago

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A barrel may collect 50 gals, which in a downpour will be full in a few minutes. You’d have to have a diverter to take at least some of the water and dump it somewhere in the garden. Ive seen it done, but of course, you’re not allowed to do that.