Hi, opinions wanted on using water runoff from a metal roof to a barrel, then pipped to a PVC pipe with nipples? Does anyone worry about diseases from wild bird droppings getting into the water system? We haven't set this system up yet but are considering it. We do have many wild birds in treed areas on our property. Wondering if anyone has thought of this or considered it an issue. I suppose we could just fill the barrel by way of a hose. But in Oregon, we are known for rain from mid-fall to late spring!
Thanks for comments,
Laura
Don't do it. Your system fails.
you have the right IDEA, however. You just need much more filtration.
I use a the metal roof of my barn, which is in the middle of my pasture, with no overhanging trees, etc. So leaf levels are near 0. Wild birds don't rooston it, and don't drop much on it either. That's not a concern. Dust and pollen DOES build up, however. I used 12' metal sheets, 3/12 pitch, the barn roof is about 46' in length. We get about 1" rainfall per week. That's enough to fill a 275 gal poly tote each week, with overflow. I catch the rain in a 6" wide metal gutter, channel it to the end. there's gross filtration (a metal screen) at the top of the down spout. There's finer filtration (window screen material (in a sock or coffee-flter like shape) at the top of the polytote's fill hole, with an air gap so I can access it for cleaning. Then the remaining solids (dust/pollen) settle to the bottom, which is plenty deep - several inches before the drain on the side is used to provide pressure to my waterers. The whole system is elevated about 4' in the air, which provides a tiny amount of pressure - probably 2-3 psi.
I've kept myself, my wife, two dogs, 80 birds, a few goats in water that way for weeks when we had no rainfall. Once, sometimes twice a year, all the filters get washed out and cleaned or replaced, the whole tank gets its inside pressure washed, and its ready to go.
My system works because the huge 275 gal polytote works as a sediment tank, allowing heavy materials (dust, dirt, other solids) to settle out, below the level that's siphoned into your nipple system - those things can get plugged pretty easily, and a leak from a valve/lever stuck open will slowly drain you dry.
If you are going to do a barrel system, you need to add a second barrel, just like a septic tank or a pond mechanical "bog filter". One side (the first barrel) is your sediment tank, allowing solids to drop to the bottom, with water being filtered off between 1/3 and 1/2 way up. That doesn't give you much storage however, so you take that outflow and capture it in a second barrel for actual use. Then use elevation changes in a step system to control your pressures. If you put a valve in the line connecting the barrels (use a 1/4 turn stop valve), you can shut the system off to clean the first (sediment) barrel while leaving the reserve in the second, which will continue to supply water to your animals while you clean the first. Which should have its top taken off, tilted over, hosed clean of sediments, bleached if desired, and tilted back into place once a year or so.
