Water Linking blue barrels?

[Bud in Fla]

I found out that in my new area there is no such thing as a shallow well so it's back to plan "B". I can get plenty of blue barrels locally and my house and shop have metal roofs. I'm going to build a bank of barrels but I need to link the barrels together near the bottom.

Has anyone found any "bulkhead fittings" that will fit through the threaded holes on the solid top drums? If I can fish the nut through the bung hole (proper name for a hole in a drum) I can use PVC to link them - I just gotta find the fittings that will go through the hole in the barrel and I'm trying to avoid re-inventing the wheel. I know there's been a bunch of people before me trying to do the same thing.

Also, some of the barrels I've seen advertized were used for some kind of glycerine. Any ideas on how hard it would be to clean them out? I passed on the ones that had shampoo and hair conditioner....

Thanks for any info!

 

[Publius]

I'm guessing you want to collect rain water and not sure but the last time I wanted to fit a boiler valve to a drum the bung hole is standard pipe size and thread.
The stuff is out there to do what you want just go to a hardware store or plumbing supply and they should be able set you up with something that you can use and connect a barbed hose connector to and get a tube of GE silicone to add to the setup to make sure it never leaks. You can also use the RTV silicone thats used for cars that will work and ensure a good seal.

You may need someone to help with holding the wench thats clamped to a 1/2" pipe or rebar to reach to the bottom of the drum.

 

[Bud in Fla]

One of the places I need to stop is the local plumbing store and rummage through. Hopefully they'll have something. I'm worried that the wall thickness of the blue barrel wouldn't seal on threads but there's always silicon RTV.

Cooling down in your neighborhood? Bridge Day near Beckley will be soon and that's usually right at peak color...it was 90° here today. I miss the Falls and the first few snows but it's nice not seeing it below 0° all Winter but it does get down to freezing in this area.

 

[Publius]

I don't think there is enough plastic to rely on for a good hold and seal and it will have to be clamped and RTV. Have you given any thoughts of putting a cistern? or you doing some else here?

 

[Bud in Fla]

A shallow well was the original plan. I tried 2 times and then checked with a local well guy. In this area you have to go at least 100 ft to hit water - we're only 60 ft above sea level!

My main/regular well is 130 ft and the static water level is 60 ft. Too much limestone to wash a well in. Even with an old coal drill on the end of the pipe it stopped at 30 ft. Even the static level is twice the range of a "pitcher" pump so rain barrels is gonna be it. Not a great plan but it's the only one that makes sense at this point.

 

[ginnie6]

we have several of the blue barrels and dh outfitted them with outside faucets and they have no leaks. I can take a look at them tomorrow and see what he used when he installed them but I think it was just that white plumbing tape.

 

[Publius]

You can try something like this! http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itmid=24113&catid=808

http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/default.aspx?catid=808&parentcatis=706


You say you moved to Florida? There are a number of people listed in Florida that sell these cistern tanks like this one. http://www.floridatankdepot.com/index.html

 

[Bud in Fla]

I think I got an idea....head hurts. I saw a pic of a barrel set up that I'll try. If it works I'll post some pics. I'll lay the barrels on their sides with the 2 threaded holes in the top lined up perpendicular. I can screw a PVC/NPT adapter into the lower holes and pipe up a manifold to link the barrels. I can use a reducer bushing in the upper holes for a vent line. I can set a couple of posts at each end of the horizontal barrels and stack more on top like a pyramid, all piped together.

I won't need to cut holes or find bulkhead fittings - just use what's already in the barrels.

 

[cowboy]

If you drill out the threaded end of your adapter, you can slide your pipe on thru to a desired length before glueing.

This helps to siphon barrels to a equal level in the upright position then alows all the high levels to chain togather for a little pnumatic pressure to have running water.

 

[Scar]

I would pass on the glycerin barrels, just not worth the potential risk of contamination. Since glycerin has a high solubility rate with water, you could theoretically flush the drum enough times to remove all the glycerin. However, with out an analyzer, you would only be guessing at the water quality.

I once received a few drums for free that contained 12% bleach. I filled them with a few gallons of water and laid the barrels parallel to the back axel and drove my normal route to work for a week.

At the end of the week, I drained the water and repeated. At the end of week two, no appreciable chlorine odor was present.

Again, I wouldn't take chances with an old glycerin barrel.

 

[Bud in Fla]

I would pass on the glycerin barrels, just not worth the potential risk of contamination. Since glycerin has a high solubility rate with water, you could theoretically flush the drum enough times to remove all the glycerin. However, with out an analyzer, you would only be guessing at the water quality.

I once received a few drums for free that contained 12% bleach. I filled them with a few gallons of water and laid the barrels parallel to the back axel and drove my normal route to work for a week.

At the end of the week, I drained the water and repeated. At the end of week two, no appreciable chlorine odor was present.

Again, I wouldn't take chances with an old glycerin barrel.

Thanks! I looked glycerine up to see how hard it was to get rid of......"easily water soluble".... so is rock with enough time and water!
At present, these barrels will be used for flushing and washing water BUT sooner or later the barrels of well water will be dry.

Thanks for the tip about drilling out the plug to glue the pipe in, too Cowboy! It'll beat tapping it.

I saw this pic and I'm using it as a basic idea - this makes sense but hopefully mine won't look this complicated.....

 

[Kathy in WV]

I'm late to the thread but you'd be happier with a big potable water cistern. I bought above ground because right here the water table fills up any major hole you dig. Otherwise ours would be underground. The plastic is so much sturdier too. And you already have holes in the right places...

Ours are hooked together just like you want your barrells to be. We catch everything from the house roof and use it just like spring water. A couple of real good rains and we have 3100 gallons of extra water to use. It saves the day sometimes when laundry needs done and the spring is running slow. It was super dry here this year.

 

[Bud in Fla]

Hey, Lady. Thanks for that idea! You have any pics of it? Just a plastic lined hole filled from the down spout? Sounds entirely too simple.... but I like it!

 

[Freeholder]

There are deep well hand pumps that will pump water from as deep as 200'. When you said your water table was too deep for a hand pump, I was thinking like some places around here, where wells can be as much as a thousand feet deep to get potable water!! (My well is less than 300' deep, and that's not too bad, but deeper than my hand pump will go.) On the other hand, my other property has an artesian well on it -- the well is about 135' deep, and the water stands near the top of the casing. (The deeper well is up on the hillside below the Tableland; the shallower one is down in the river bottom.)

Even if you do get a deep well hand pump, though, it wouldn't hurt to have a water storage system.

Kathleen

 

[Airborne Falcon]

I found out that in my new area there is no such thing as a shallow well so it's back to plan "B". I can get plenty of blue barrels locally and my house and shop have metal roofs. I'm going to build a bank of barrels but I need to link the barrels together near the bottom.

Has anyone found any "bulkhead fittings" that will fit through the threaded holes on the solid top drums? If I can fish the nut through the bung hole (proper name for a hole in a drum) I can use PVC to link them - I just gotta find the fittings that will go through the hole in the barrel and I'm trying to avoid re-inventing the wheel. I know there's been a bunch of people before me trying to do the same thing.

Also, some of the barrels I've seen advertized were used for some kind of glycerine. Any ideas on how hard it would be to clean them out? I passed on the ones that had shampoo and hair conditioner....

Thanks for any info!

I thought I had posted, maybe some years ago around here, a diagram of how my barrels are linked and double-supplied by both rainwater and my well. Maybe I still have that up somewhere ... lemme look.

Here it is. I never moved it from it's current location because so many people have used it on different forums.