Winter Catchment update

Last spring I created a catchment system (or rather, finished and upgraded the existing system) to catch rainwater off the house. I made some changes during the summer and into the fall as I realized certain aspects of the system wouldn't work as designed.

But I knew I needed to go through at least one winter to finalize everything.

We live in an area that gets extremely hot and dry during the summer, but we also have extreme cold during the winter. Not what some would call extreme (it rarely gets down below 0 degrees) but cold enough to have three or four months of solid freeze in a normal year. I don't want my tanks to freeze and possibly crack, so I needed something to stop the water flowing into the tanks during the winter.

I set up the systems so the water runs first into a primary drainspout, otherwise known as a first flush diverter because it catches the debris, bird poop, etc, that comes off the roof in the first "flush" of any storm. During the winter my first flush system is open, so nothing (or very little) gets past it and into the tanks. The tanks are also open so any water that does get into them will hopefully drain right back out again.

A few weeks ago the whole system in front came crashing down, mainly because I hadn't used the right screws to put up the pipe under the drainspout. So I got that fixed, all screwed in, and this week I ran into another problem--the water backed up into the pipes and froze, backed up more until the rain gutter itself was full of ice.

I got all the ice out and figured out the problem--somehow the horizontal arm of the drainspout/first flush diverter had gotten angled so it had a slight upward tilt. This was enough to have water pooling in the elbow, which of course froze during the night and formed a plug for more water coming down.

It's been a learning process.


1) People living in cold climates will need a way to shut the system off during the winter
2) Even a slight upward angle is going to cause problems, winter or summer
3) If you live in a cold climate, try to make sure the drainage pipes are in the sun
4) Don't finalize the system until you're sure it all works together
5) Monitor the system at least weekly during the first year

Catchment system update

Last night it rained. I went outside and the front catchment system wasn't filling. The drain had come off (which since I haven't cemented the system together yet was rather expected) but no water was draining out.

Of course the first thought was that the system was plugged. I pulled it apart, but all pieces appeared clear. The water was running down the outside of the pipes rather than the inside.

This morning I went out to check. Got out the ladder and climbed up to look in the rain gutter, and sure enough the drainspout fitting had been pushed up so the water was draining around it rather than through it. So if there's just a little water, it's not going to get into the pipes. If there's a lot of water it'll rise high enough in the rain gutter to go over the lip.

Pushed it down and it should drain correctly now.

The catchment system is still a work in progress. I want to make some changes, build in a way to flush the system for example, but that will have to wait. I have other projects at the moment. Right now I'm going out during and after each storm to identify any weaknesses. Some of the pieces will need to be cemented in before the cold hits, but most will remain just as it is until next spring.

Part of the testing is making sure that the system will drain appropriately when everything freezes. This means I have to go through at least one freeze-thaw cycle to understand how the system works and how it needs to be changed to accommodate unforeseen variables.

December update