Rain Barrel: Freeze Warning - what to do?

[Kmcinnes]

We store as much of ours inside as we can, if need be in the winter we will collect snow (NOT THE YELLOW SNOW) in 5 gal buckets, bring it inside, let it melt and treat as needed from there.

 

[dudley0]

Collected snow one power outage for flushing. Takes a lot of snow to make a five gallon bucket of water. Takes a fair amount of time and energy to melt it too.

Then there is the fact that we don't always have snow when the power is out.

I thought that the yellow snow was just lemonade flavored.

 

[XDLover]

We simply open the tap and leave it open in the winter. This is year 4

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

Why not just plan on using unfiltered rain water for washing and drinking?

It's not gonna have any heebie jeebies in it that'll make you sick. It MAY contain some trace chemicals (acid rain?) that a filter may not remove anyhow.

-J-

 

[Kmcinnes]

Collected snow one power outage for flushing. Takes a lot of snow to make a five gallon bucket of water. Takes a fair amount of time and energy to melt it too.

Then there is the fact that we don't always have snow when the power is out.

I thought that the yellow snow was just lemonade flavored.

That's why we have about 10 5 gal bucket, a wood stove and a manual well pump back ups for the back ups!

 

[mdemetz]

On a TV show called Real Green, they had a house that installed a 500 gallon underground tank for collecting rain water. They used rain chains to collect because the roof design did not support gutters.

 

[CathyInBlue]

Red Green?

Sounds like something Red Green would do.

 

[indyjoe]

I thought that the yellow snow was just lemonade flavored.

At the very best of circumstances it is only 2nd generation lemonade flavored.

 

[churchmouse]

I am having a Frank Zappa moment.

 

[indyjohn]

I am having a Frank Zappa moment.

Oh Dang, Tim. I missed that. Makes me remember buying Over-Nite Sensation and my favorite Zappa tune - Dinah-Moe Humm.... 'course I didn't find it until 10 years after it was released.. but better late than never, right?

 

[churchmouse]

Oh Dang, Tim. I missed that. Makes me remember buying Over-Nite Sensation and my favorite Zappa tune - Dinah-Moe Humm.... 'course I didn't find it until 10 years after it was released.. but better late than never, right?

Now it is a total flash back to the slime oozing out from your TV set...........

 

[clarky51]

I have a rain barrel fed off the chicken coop with "chicken nipples" in the bottom. It has been awesome...I haven't had to fill up the chicken's water all summer...even through the drought. I've been thinking about how to keep this system working through the winter. I've considered putting a tank heater but I don't have power at the coop. So the project grows when considering adding a solar panel. Anyone have any experience?

 

[indyjohn]

I think it is great that you had the ingenuity to build a chicken coop watering system!

I'm not getting any solutions for freezing weather except for storage in a barn, which I don't have. I know there are a number of solar powered water heating systems that work but I think would make your project cost prohibitive.

I'm not sure where to go from here...

 

[Ash]

We simply open the tap and leave it open in the winter. This is year 4

I do the same thing.

I will be adding a third barrel next year though. The drought this summer taught me a lot about rainwater use in the garden.

Cheers.

 

[miguel]

CHUG IT!!!

 

[bigus_D]

I have a rain barrel fed off the chicken coop with "chicken nipples" in the bottom. It has been awesome...I haven't had to fill up the chicken's water all summer...even through the drought. I've been thinking about how to keep this system working through the winter. I've considered putting a tank heater but I don't have power at the coop. So the project grows when considering adding a solar panel. Anyone have any experience?

Pics or it didn't happen. I'm sick of hauling water to the coop now that I've winterized my hose runs.

 

[clarky51]

Haven't tackled it yet...I will probably jsut run an extension cord to the coop.