I have been toying with the ideal of using 55 gal drums to collect rain water from the roof.

May question is would it be better to use plastic or metal drums.

I am worried about making the water drinkable, so I'm focusing on boiling the water.

55 gal metal drums that can be placed directly into a boil situation, however rusting the drums is a concern.
55 gal plastic drums how to boil it without doing it a gallon at a time.

Any ideals or is anyone doing something similar?

Thank you,

www.shtfmovement.com/post6115.html#p6115

use stainless steel barrels

2501 wrote:I have been toying with the ideal of using 55 gal drums to collect rain water from the roof.

It is an excellent idea as the only contaminants you have to worry about are those from your roof and any you add through carelessness.

May question is would it be better to use plastic or metal drums.

Both have issues depending on how you intend to use them. I am a fan of plastic because food grades ones are cheap and I intend to use a filter rather than chemicals or heat because of its ease and removal of things other than bacteria and viruses.

I am worried about making the water drinkable, so I'm focusing on boiling the water.

Check out ceramic filters like the Berkey or Monolithic. There is no question the Berkey is the best there is, but due to cost I am a fan of the Monolithic Just Water.

http://shop.monolithic.com/pages/water-filter

55 gal metal drums that can be placed directly into a boil situation, however rusting the drums is a concern.
55 gal plastic drums how to boil it without doing it a gallon at a time.

It takes a whole lot of fuel to boil a 55 gallon drum and they are heavy as you know what (8.35# per Gal x 55 = 459 pounds). Whereas a ceramic drip filter set up using two buckets can easily produce over a gallon of water an hour from your rain water and will filer out any contaminants added by your shingles to the water. Even better if you run out of rain water you can filter any non salty water you can find...

I am looking for info on what would be the best roofing material, with the least maintanence to collect rainwater. I had planned to use a product from Lowes called Ondura, then I read their material and found that it had an asphalt product in it. I also researched it on blogs and many say it falls apart quickly.

So, what say you about what I should put on my storage shed at my bol to collect rain water. Will also be purchasing a 550 gallon storage container for it. Have all the sanitization and filtration needs worked out, stumbling on the roofing material.

Doc G wrote:I am looking for info on what would be the best roofing material, with the least maintanence to collect rainwater.

Metal roofing ? should only be powder coated i think.
Shingles is fiberglass and tar and gravel.

Possibly a big A$$ green house and collect water from the plastic.

Or you can do like others and make a GARDEN on your roof yes look it up people are growing food , grass etc on their roofs

too bad it's illegal here.

Many around here use painted(don't think it's powder coated, it's made locally) metal roofing to supplement springs and cisterns. Wells are a touchy subject here....lots of sulfur and iron water, some water seams are tainted with worse things. It's also difficult to get a very productive well, if you're lucky enough to get a clean one. I posted somewhere around here about my landlord's water system at his camp....it involved a 120 gallon plastic tank, a 2500 gallon block cistern that was spring fed, and a toilet fill valve to prevent overflow. Cheap, effective, and although he has a pump, pressure tank, and a water heater, he can operate with low pressure in the event of no electricity. The same could be designed with a rainwater tank...could be operated with a pump and water heater on a solar setup.

I have seen rainwater systems fed from old-fashioned tin roofs, but I'm not sure if the water would be okay to drink untreated.

I am using 55 gal plastic bbls to collect rain water for the garden. It is a good system, but only in an open area. Pine trees surround the house and when it rains you get pollen in the spring, needles during the year, pine cones and seeds and bird poop. When all this settles to the bottom it then decays to a black slush which I try to clean out yearly. I have screen filters on all gutters to catch large pieces but the little stuff gets thru. Also mosquitos tend to breed in standing water and I do get the larva in the catch bbls. Of course in a bad situation water can be drank if purified by fitering and boiling. Everyone I have talked to says the same thing. Put a good filter going in, which would reduce flow and a good filter out. Boiling is a MUST.

helot wrote:too bad it's illegal here.

Another state that has been taken over by the liberal doodoo gooders.

What a farse, illegal to collect the water that G-d has sent from the skies.