Fence Cisterns.

"New" 71 Gallon Modular Rainwater Tank Fence
Dimensions – 72" Tall X 32" Wide X 6” Thick

I'm going to get some of these. Free shipping if I get 15.

16 Months of Catchin' Rain

I've had my system charged now for 16 months. I use the rain water to feed a black 40 gallon horse trough . Which 9 goldfish are happily swimming in a thick pea soup of algae. This fish tank I call " Lake Slappy ". This water I use in my greenhouse. My greenhouse uses zero water from the city.

One thing I wanted to with this project is spread the word here in Lubbock, Texas. Having had some time under my belt , and continued reading. I'd like to begin holding water harvesting classes. The purpose of these classes is for the home owner, or small business to spend a few hours learning about how to do it, and leaving with a diverter that will handle the type of rain we have here in Lubbock. Because there are so many ways to store water , and each owner will have to make their choices for their goals. The class won't just sell you a 55 gallon drum and send you home.

Since I worked out this PVC fitting system , I have been able to change the original design to make it a better filter of the sediments we seem to have so much of.
So, after not using this site for 15 months, I have decided to activate it for this class , sort of the chalkboard, and list of resources for the students .

Water Diverter or "Harvester"

A device to collect rain water from the down spouts of rain gutters. Made from Schedule 40 PVC fittings.


I bought a commercial one of these just to see the quality and performance. My rain events here south of the "Picket Wire" produce heavy down pours for 20 min. and stop - Sometimes for weeks. The one I bought on the web was made for people who have rain events that involve hours of "pitter-patter" type events. What you see here cost $30.00 at the ole' home improvement store. I will leave it to others as to the ends and outs of the whole system. That is your storage set-up, and collection (roof & gutter) systems. Needless to say the cleaner your roof and gutters the better the quality the water you catch. Their are two traps with clean-out plugs in this design to collect sediments and the little grains that come off asphalt singles.

• Starting at the top.
• That is a standard 3" downspout elbow running into a 3" pvc pipe. This is the water coming into the diverter.
• Next is a 3" X 3" X 3" sanitary tee. When your system has
captured all it will hold, water will run to the left at the bottom of this tee. Back to a downspout, and into the lawn, flower bed, etc.
• On the left is a 3" 90 elbow. Here is the connection back to standard gutter. How one does this connection has several different solutions, I have just stuck downspout pipe here.
• Now at the bottom of the tee is a 3'' section of standard pipe - 4" long.
• Under that is a 3" X 2" X 3" sanitary tee.
• This tee is sealed on the bottom by a 3" clean-out plug.
• On the right are 2 - 2" elbows.
• Below them is a short section of standard 2'' pipe.
• Next is a 2" to 1 1/2" reducer.
• Next is a short section of 1 1/2" pipe.
• Below that is a 1-1/2" X 3/4" X 1-1/2" tee. (That is a short section of 3/4" pvc pipe sticking out of it on the right.) This is the piping going to your cistern. Keep this point as high as you can above the top of your cistern.
• Next is a short section of 1 1/2" pipe.
• And a the very bottom is a 1-1/2"female coupling with a male threaded plug. This is another clean-out, or if you are saving a lot of water, another 1-1/2" line to your storage system.


Here is a photo of my storage cistern. The barrels came from the Coke dealer. Wash them out several times before you use them. There are 2 bung holes in each barrel . The bung plugs have 3/4" "knock-outs" in the center of them that are threaded. A 3/4" male pvc coupling screws right in them. This is how my system is "daisy-chained together".

Note the vertical stand-pipe on the left of the system. This lets out the air when filling, and makes for smooth flow when using water from the system. These are 60 gal. barrels, of which about 230 gals are usable when full.

The cribbing is set on an angle. The right-hand barrel is 6 inches higher than the left-hand one.

The whole system can be seen here :
Earth Ship at Lubbock