Rain water collection

[lintlicker]

I plan on expanding my run a bit and collecting rain water so I don't have to carry gallons a few acres to my coop. I have a general idea of how I want to do it but I'm stuck on one question... what barrel do I use? My main concern is the heat/sunlight in the summer creating mold. I have had that issue with typical clear chicken waterers and I'm constantly cleaning them to prevent the green slime.

Does anyone have a suggestion for large capacity rain barrel that won't allow sunlight in and cause mildew?

Some facts to help suggestions: we get a ton of rain here in East Texas. We also can reach temperatures over 100° F in the summers. We do get slightly below freezing on occasion but not longer than a few days. The barrel will be protected from sun until early to late afternoon.

We threw some copper piping in our 55 gallon food grade drum and that seems to do the trick, its a dark blue colored one and havent seen any issues...depending on how far away your waterer is, you might be able to have a 55 gallon drum near your house and run some piping/tubing to have it gravity feed as well

 

[lintlicker]

This is great information! Thank you! No power out at the coop so was thinking gravity instead of a pump.

Something like this? https://a.co/d/ccaGKjv (that's an Amazon link but in case you're not comfortable clicking on it, here's a screen shot) View attachment 4069500

The only concern I have is it looks like I can't open the top to do a yearly clean out. I was planning on putting mesh over a small opening to keep mosquitos out but allow water in.

I cut out one of the holes at the top to allow me to secure a "bung" in the bottom (I think thats what it was called, usually used on marine applications). Check craigslist you can get these food grade barrels for $50 a pop.

 

[WingItRanch]

I'll update when I finally get it all set up. Probably will take a while because I'm also expanding my coop/run in addition to this upgrade.

 

[WingItRanch]

Ok! So I finished my run extension and have been planning the rain water collection. I found one of those 55 gal barrels locally for only $25 so glad I didn't order on Amazon.

I've got all the fittings and a plan. The property came with this giant blue/green pipe typically used for sewage and I cut a slit in it and slid it onto the low end of the coorigated metal roofing. It has a cap on the high side and a reducer on the low side which will go into the barrel.

The barrel came with 2 openings on top. One I'll leave open with a screen on it. The other will have a connected pipe directly from the roof.

I'll have a spout at the top for overflow, my main spout will be approx 1 ft from the bottom and will have a double head with one attached to a hose going to the horizontal nipples inside the run and the other will be if I need to wash my hands or something. At the very bottom (underneath) will have a plug I can pull if I need to clean out any sediment.

I'm leveling out the ground where the barrel will go and will be building a 2 foot tall stand for it. The brick in the pic are just to help me visualize.

The only question I have is... should I secure that giant blue/green pipe somehow? Right now it's just resting on the roofing. Feels pretty stable but not sure that will last.