Rain Barrel System | CHEAP Water Pump Setup

how's it going everyone in my last rain barrel video many of you responded and said you wanted to see me take this project a step further by coming up with a way to transfer water from my rain barrel to my garden using some type of electric pump so in this video I will show you my process and the components I used to get the job done and also based on your feedback for question I'm gonna answer at the end of the video well determine if I'll spice things up a little bit more for this project in a way enough talking we got work to do let's go ahead and get started [Music] to create a solid foundation for my electrical components I chose to use two concrete blocks due to their cheap price and reliability the first step was to create a level foundation and what I like to do is trace around the blocks before I start my digging process before I forget if you really enjoy these videos be sure to smash that like button because it really helps out this channel and it continues to motivate me to put all this time and energy into making these videos for you guys after sweating like crazy on this very hot day I have eventually level the surface enough to move on to the next step before moving forward I wanted to make sure my PVC line was gonna fit properly between my concrete blocks and that my container had a large enough support base all the pre checks passed so it's time to start digging my water trench from my rain barrel area to my garden now if you are not sure where your underground utility lines are be sure to get a hold of your local locator or call the national call before you dig phone number which you can find at call 8 1 1 calm for simplicity and since I was gonna modify this in the future I chose to dig a 4 inch deep trench to place the water line however check what your local code when it comes to installing PVC underground for my water line I used 1/2 inch schedule 40 PVC I also used a series of 90 degree elbows and couplings to create my PVC water line what you'll see throughout the video note that all my PVC connections are currently just drive fitted and once I'm satisfied with the layout I will use solvent cement to fuse everything in place and create a watertight seal I would also recommend that you use some PVC pipe cutters to make cutting the PVC a lot quicker you can usually find these at your home improvement stores next I needed to disassemble my previous garden spigot setup which was tapped into my city water line [Music] [Music] after taking some rough estimates by eye and brainstorming on how I wanted to connect the rain barrel PVC connection I noticed it would be easier if I routed the PVC from the rain barrel on the right side of the wooden poles which meant I had to pull out the pickaxe again I wanted to have the option to disconnect the rain barrel and city water flow sources from my garden spigot to do this install two PVC ball valves which are pretty cheap and can be found at most home improvement stores [Music] after the ball valves were installed this is what the PVC waterline connection looked like after most of the PVC water line connection was set up I decided to focus on creating the wooden base for the container that was going to house my electrical components after the base pieces were cut to size I needed to cut out a slot for the PVC connection and rain barrel hose connections to fit through [Music] after making sure the hole size was large enough for my water connections I used some tapcon concrete screws to fasten the base to the concrete blocks [Music] to improve the cosmetics of the base and to attach the other to wood and base pieces to the middle piece I use some scrap wood to create the border [Music] once the wooden base was completed it was now time to start working on using the primer and the solvent cement to connect all my PVC components now I'm not an expert in this area but I do know enough to get the job done also be sure to wear gloves to help keep the chemicals off your hands unlike what I did here in the video for those who may be wondering and most home-improvement stores you can purchase the PVC primer and clear solvent cement and a kit which is what I did the first step before using the solvent cement is to use the purple primer which is used to prep the PVC surface and start the chemical reaction which will soften the PVC after you have applied your primer you can apply your solvent cement but you need to connect your PVC components quickly before the solvent cement dries it is recommended to hold the components together for at least 30 seconds to prevent pipe push out to prevent this video from being heating longer I will not show my entire process fusing all the PVC components together but know that the same process I used here was used for all the other PVC components after all my PVC components were fused into place I began reinstalling my PVC conduit clamps [Music] next I needed to prep my container that was gonna hold my electrical components I started out by using a space bit but you can probably get away with just using a jigsaw if you have one after you've made that initial hole or you can just use a box cutter [Music] to pump water from my rain barrel to my garden I decided to go with the transferor pump from Harbor Freight to keep my project costs down the pump comes with its own external on and off switch as well as alligator clamps to attach to the battery source the pump also comes with a green garden hose which was nice as for the battery I'm using a 12 volt 35 M power battery in order for the garden hose to connect correctly to the pump I had to buy a double female adapter since the pump has two male ends for my PVC connection I used two female hose connector which I was lucky to find at my home improvement store as it was the last one in stock next I temporarily hooked up my garden hose so I could get a rough idea how to wrap my PVC components [Music] [Music] after the PVC connections were fused together I went ahead and screw down the transfer pump which would also help keep my container in place before connecting the water line I make sure all my connections on my pump were tight however be sure not to over tighten the PVC hose connector for the first test I remove the battery in case any major leaks were present while I went around checking all my PVC connection points for water leaks [Music] [Music] [Music] so far everything was looking good after the leak test was complete I come began covering up the PVC waterline and getting everything fastened up after everything was cleaned up it was finally time to test out the system my rain barrel was nearly full so it's a perfect day to run a few tests to see how well the little pump could transfer water [Music] [Music] the first test was to see if I could use a regular garden hose nozzle sprayer to water my plant if I needed to the second test was to see if my two soaker hoses will function correctly the third test was to see if my two sprinkler heads had enough water pressure to spray correctly now you may be wondering why I have so many types of watering methods in my garden and the truth is this is my first time setting up a garden this way and I wanted to see what watering methods will be the most convenient for those who may be wondering about the pressure I'm receiving the cheap pressure gauge I hooked up was reading about 12 psi however I'm not sure how accurate this is but regardless the pressure appears to be enough for this project after doing a jet spray with the garden hose nozzle I would estimate that the spray distance was about 16 feet overall this was a labor intensive project but well worth it in the end I'm thinking about taking this project a step further and adding solar panels to the project to help keep the battery charged and possibly add a way to remotely turn the transferor pump on and off if you would like to see that video let me know in the comments below also again if you enjoy these videos be sure to smash that like button and so you don't miss out on future videos be sure to subscribe thanks for watching and I'll see you next time

Channel: Green Tech Town

Views: 730,358

Rating: 4.9592023 out of 5

Keywords: rain barrel, rain water, water pump, transfer pump, harbor freight transfer pump, Drummond pump, dc pump, PVC, solvent cement, PVC primer, PVC pipe, gardening, garden, rain barrel system, rain water barrel, rain barrel pump, rain barrel irrigation system, pvc ball valve, pvc coupling, pvc hose connector, 12v battery, schedule 40 pvc, double female adapter, soaker hose

Id: opgxarh0G9Q

Length: 13min 15sec (795 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 16 2020