by mannytheseacow » Sat May 02, 2015 8:36 pm
Awesome, Drew! I have something similar on that new building I put up last year, except I didn't do the diverter. I just used a screened gutter... so yeah, not nearly as clean as what you did there. Gary over at builditsolar.com has a good how-to for the rainwater diverter but I just didn't have the space between the gutter and the IBC tank.
The biggest drawback for me is the algae build up. Somewhere on the www I saw that a couple over in the UK covered their IBC tank in a black pond liner to keep algae down. I'm not paying for a pond liner but waiting for an opportunity to come my way to cover it cheaply (free). The algae has gotten bad enough that it has plugged the outlet a couple times. I've thought about throwing a carp or a catfish in there, but....
How did you rig your outlet? I just used a PVC cap and glued a 3/4 hose female to it. Working well so far.
My IBC totally froze full of water over the winter at some point through a freeze/thaw and it took it without a problem. No splits, no leaks. Man, those things are tough.
My main house collector is just a 200 gallon watering trough for livestock. It's useful for me because I can just dunk a bucket or sprinkling can in it and fill it if needed. I may go the IBC route with that when the opportunity appears.
"Knowledge is power. Arm yourself."