Collapsible Rain Barrels for water storage

[Linwood]

Has anyone every tried collapsible rain barrels for water storage?

I have a 55g and 65g plastic tank now I use when staging water, and found the 55g has some kind of contamination issue so am disposing of it. And I really have VERY little storage room to keep these when not in use; I want to break them out once a month or so, make a bunch of water, do all my WC's, then hide them.

I stumbled across collapsible rain barrels and see there are a bunch of them in pretty large sizes (I saw one at 156G).

Do they work? Could I stick one in my living room, make water from RODI into it for a day or two, and then pump it out? And not worry it will burst and flood the place?

 

[treemanone2003]

Really have to think that's a question for the manufacturer. My only thought as to putting one in the living room would be if the floor could support it. 156g~1300 pounds.


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[Brookster123]

Are they cheap or expensive?? If they're cheap I wouldn't trust them in the house.. are they similar to the spiral type collapsible hampers or lawn/leaf barrels?

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[Linwood]

Really have to think that's a question for the manufacturer. My only thought as to putting one in the living room would be if the floor could support it. 156g~1300 pounds.

Well, one reason people come to the internet for information is we don't trust the lies marketing people tell for manufacturers.

And one advantage of living on a slab is I don't worry about such - it can support a LOT of weight.

Are they cheap or expensive?? If they're cheap I wouldn't trust them in the house.. are they similar to the spiral type collapsible hampers or lawn/leaf barrels?

I saw them in the $60-90 range, there are lots of variations. So not as cheap as solid plastic barrels (which I usually see for $25-35), but not exactly expensive either.

I was just hoping for someone with experience with them.

 

[Patty1980]

Have you laid eyes and hands on them? I'd be curious about bursting too. Or just buy one, fill it outside and see what happens....

 

[Linwood]

Have you laid eyes and hands on them? I'd be curious about bursting too. Or just buy one, fill it outside and see what happens....

No, that would help as often you can touch something and tell if it's made like junk (it's often hard to tell for sure it is well made, but junk stands out frequently). But I see them only on line, and don't feel like investing that much plus shipping without knowing someone has done it successfully.

 

[Patty1980]

Oh me either. Some have more dispensable income than others not me though

 

[Aquatic Arts]

In the past I just used Brute trash bins. Had a lot of TDS creeping up in them, so switched to "FDA Approved" Food Grade 55 gallon barrels. They hold a lot of water for the space they take up. I did try a collapsible IBC tote one time, and although it held the water I would definitely not trust it on my living room floor.

If money is not an issue and you have a basement, you can set up well water bladder tanks to hold your RO water. In addition to six of the food grade barrels, we have 4 26 gallon bladder tanks in the basement. I set them to 9 PSI and my reverse osmosis system shuts off at 60 PSI just as if it was using one of the tiny 3 gallon pressure tanks on RO systems. You could set one up for around $170 in brand new parts. I can snap a pic if anyone is interested.

 

[Brookster123]

Interesting about tds and brute barrels, i use one. How much we talking here? How long would water sit in there?

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[Linwood]

In the past I just used Brute trash bins. Had a lot of TDS creeping up in them, so switched to "FDA Approved" Food Grade 55 gallon barrels. They hold a lot of water for the space they take up. I did try a collapsible IBC tote one time, and although it held the water I would definitely not trust it on my living room floor.
.

Well... hmmmm.... Yesterday I broke down and bought two of the brute 44G, and made a dolly (I wanted really big wheels to step over thresholds).

Now the good news so far is after now 17 hours or so I still get a zero reading on the TDS.

Did you store water for really long periods in them? Or are you saying it was just as they aged?

If money is not an issue and you have a basement, you can set up well water bladder tanks to hold your RO water.

Fail on both accounts, but mostly space. In this part of florida I've never seen a basement, and they just don't build houses with much storage space. I guess it's the snowbird market? They don't even put coat closets in them (and before someone cracks wise about coats in SW Florida -- how many ONLY have coats in their coat closet up north! It's the "neutral ground" storage closet not in someone's space).

Anyway... I'm going for infrequent water changes (low stock, lots of plants, etc.) and plan to set up my storage only once or twice a month, then stash it away somewhere. I'd love to have something set up permanently with a couple hundred gallons of water always ready, but not happening.

 

[Brookster123]

Why not get an agricultural tank (250 gallons) drop a pump in there and put it outside?
Quick craigslist search. This is great, fda approved and cheaper than a barrel on wheels!! Gravity fed so no pump needed. http://hartford.craigslist.org/grd/4834627570.html

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[Linwood]

Why not get an agricultural tank (250 gallons) drop a pump in there and put it outside?

Two related reasons. (1) down here, one's yard is defined as three feet of grass, and (2) I'm married and can't get any outside storage approved.

Well, and (3) Divorce is expensive.

Seriously, I've walked the house and yard and there's just no permanent storage that would be acceptable. When I moved here, I wanted a pad mounted generator (it's hurricane country), and found the house was built so close to the property lines in all directions I could not get one, period. So I have one on wheels I roll out (and THAT space in the garage was difficult enough to find).

I miss my little horse farm.

 

[Brookster123]

Ooooo!!! Do you have exposed cielings joists in the garage??

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[Linwood]

Ooooo!!! Do you have exposed cielings joists in the garage??

The garage ceiling is already home to five having bikes (I don't ride bikes -- some day I'll understand why the only other occupant in the house needs five), and in the one place deep enough I hang the 65 gallon ag tank I also use for water (hang on a hoist -- I don't fill it there).

I've thought of putting a tank in some corner -- a flat tank hanging on wire rack -- and actually filling it, but am a bit concerned about putting too much weight on the bottom of trusses -- I understand they can carry a huge load (we have concrete roof tiles), but pulling down on the bottom is not quite the same as loading up the top, and I think I skilled that day in statics.

Besides -- there's another "outside" issue. I make the water outside by the pool so the waste goes into it. In the summer the water is about 10 degrees too hot, which is a bigger pain to deal with prior to going into the tank than when it's too cold (I have a heater I just dunk in the tank while mixing). Not impossible, and if I had a really good outdoor solution I'd figure something out, but it just reduces the attractiveness.

What I do now is really not that bad -- I carry out the RODI and set it next to the pool and it takes anywhere from half a day to 2+ days to make enough water depending on whether I'm doing a partial or massive water change and in how many tanks. It's the holding capacity that was a problem.

The trash cans nest, and I can store all the hoses, etc. inside of them, and stash that in my clothes closet over near my long sleeve shirts, real shoes, and long pants I also never use in Florida. At least that's the plan at this moment. I had hoped the collapsible ones would mean less wasted space for storage, but I think I'm done for now (well, I need to go finish the dolly before the holding tank fills so I can try the first one on the dolly).

 

[Aquatic Arts]

Interesting about tds and brute barrels, i use one. How much we talking here? How long would water sit in there?

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This got worse and worse with age. When I got rid of them, I could have the water at 30 TDS when I went to bed and have it be 50 in the morning. I have heard containers get better about that with age, so maybe I didn't have them long enough. I only had them about 6 months.

I would get a collapsible rain barrel or something like you suggested, but keep it outside and use a delivery pump. I definitely wouldn't trust one anywhere but in my basement. You can make your water outside, pump the water out of the tanks, then move the pump to the other side and pump your new water back in. I do something sort of like this for my personal tanks that are in living quarters, and I made a clip-on float valve out of an old clip-on light fixture and a Kerrick 1.5gpm Float Valve from Amazon. This is great, because I am a scatterbrained person that is going to end up with water on the floor a lot of the time if pumps without float valves are involved.