Water collecting system for chicken coop roof

[nameisjoeandilovepoultry]

Hello, I have been thinking about building a rainwater collection system from the top of my chicken coop roof. Any advice out there? TIA

 

[drinkoj]

 

[aart]

Hello, I have been thinking about building a rainwater collection system from the top of my chicken coop roof. Any advice out there? TIA

Filtration and keeping algae down are the biggest concerns, IMO.

Show us your coop and waterer......and...
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[Ridgerunner]

Hello, I have been thinking about building a rainwater collection system from the top of my chicken coop roof. Any advice out there? TIA

What do you want to use the water for? Watering the chickens, irrigation, or something else? If irrigation, what are you irrigating? What would be your water distribution system or method? What kind of roof do you have, asphalt shingles, metal, plastic or what. A photo may be helpful.

Algae and filtration may be concerns. I've had frogs lay eggs and tadpoles hatch in rain barrels. If mosquitoes can get to the water rain barrels are breeding places. A roof can get really dirty. Will you need a diversion so you can let the first of the rain rinse off the roof before you start collecting water?

I have not gotten sophisticated at all on what I've done, pretty much just a 55 gallon drum under a downspout and using a bucket for irrigation. How sophisticated you need to get depends on how you are using it.

 

[nameisjoeandilovepoultry]

Thank you! I updated my account details. I cannot get pics of the coop but the waterer is a nipple waterer like this

The coop is an 16'x8' like this except we added a 8' extension to the run. This pic is from this spring. The roof is made out of corrugated plastic roof panels. I would like to use it to water chickens. Thank you!

 

[nameisjoeandilovepoultry]

 

[nameisjoeandilovepoultry]

it is the coop on the right.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Your coop photo in post #6 did not come through for me.

I don't use nipple waterers but I'd think you'd need really clean water to keep from plugging the nipples. That's going to take more sophistication in your system than I have experience with so I won't be much help. I don't think you need much water pressure for those nipples.

I forgot something in my earlier post. You need some type of overflow so hydraulic pressure does not build up too high and burst your tank or somewhere else in the system.

Getting water that clean has kind of got me stuck. I would not use a steel tank that can rust but would use a plastic one. I could see a downspout putting water onto a tight screen at the top of the tank, the tight screen to keep trash and mosquitoes out. That corrugated roof sounds pretty good but I think I'd like a diverter so I could spill the first of the rainwater outside your system to keep dirt and dust out of the system.

I don't know how you would handle algae. Chlorine bleach is a standard method but you need to control concentration. A lot of us drink water sanitized by chlorine but the amounts used are very small.

I would want my water feed from the tank to be up off of the bottom a bit so sediment doesn't go down your system. You would need a way to clean sediment out of the bottom when it starts to build up. For the same reason I think I'd want horizontal nipples, not vertical nipples. With an open system like that I think you will have sediment no matter what you do unless you invest some big money. You can buy rainwater collections systems but they get expensive.

Hopefully someone that has experience with rainwater collection and nipples will see this and help but I'd be nervous with that combination.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

So, the questions thus far are good ones. I'm going to leave those right where they are. What I am going to do is take a picture of the roof on my barn, which feeds into a large gutter which then feeds via some elbows into a 275 gallon food grade water. You will note get the watering tote has been painted, several coats, to prevent UV light intrusion. What you can't see is that I had a large or gross filter at the downspout, to keep leaves and things out. I have another much finer filter where the downspout connect to the top of the tote. That tote then fills a second lower Tok. I'm using the height of the inverted y in the PVC pipe as an overflow. When the first coat is full the water level is near the top of that why. As the rain comes down and fills it further, the water level rises above the top of the Y and begins to fill the second tote. The first coat never overfill. When we get too much rain, the second tote spills over the top into the Run. I have cut some shallow gullies in the run to direct that overflow into the pond.

I believe there are 231 cubic inches in a gallon. The barn is 42 ft long, and has about 11 foot of horizontal surface area on one side. In theory, one inch of rainfall will completely fill the tote.

I expect your needs will be much smaller.

 

[nameisjoeandilovepoultry]

Thank you every one! I will keep this advice in consideration!