How to Build a Water Collection Tower
My husband and I just recently completed another one of my projects so I thought I would show you how to build a water collection tower. We will actually be putting several of these in place around our farm, but this one is a little different.
The rest of them will collect water in the typical way, with gutters from the roofs of our structures. This tower is specifically for collecting the excess water from our natural pool.
Getting Ready for Construction
We found these water totes a while back and they are absolutely perfect for our needs. When we were determining a good spot for placement, the outside corner of my garden seemed the perfect spot. In preparation, I had to move one of my compost piles to ready the area for construction.
We had some excess telephone posts leftover and they worked out well. My husband dug four holes for posts and we put concrete in the bottom of the holes for a strong base.
Framing
Once the concrete had set up, we were ready to begin building. We tend to use the ‘run it wild and cut it later’ method of building in some cases. This was one of those cases…at least for part of it. The posts were close to the sizes we needed already, so we set them in place and began constructing the rest of the framework.
The water collection tower required a band around the top. It holds the posts in their place as well as giving us a frame on which to build the rest of the structure that would hold the water tote. Once the outer band was in place, additional framing and support was added to ensure the strength of the structure. Cross supports were added as well as an additional center support to hold the lumber that would make up the platform.
Once the platform framework was in place, we used a saws-all to cut off the tops of the posts that extended above the rim.
We decided not to concrete the posts into the ground. We simply packed clay back around them. Once we placed the tote on top of the tower, we added another set of ‘rim joists’ to the outer edge to make sure that the tote would not slide off in one of our high winds. Voila. A little exterior paint on the untreated wood, and the tower was complete and ready for plumbing.
Plumbing for the Water Collection Tower
Since the point of this project was to be able to capture excess water from our natural pool, my husband gathered the supplies necessary to plumb the output side of our pump plumbing directly into the water collection tower.
We run 2 inch lines on the output of our pump. They run into our regeneration area. My husband cut the line and added a junction with a sweep that would lead away from the main line.
Past the sweep, he added a valve that would cut the flow to the regeneration area, and off of the sweep, he added a water hose spigot. So that is the pool end of the plumbing.
Next, he put 1 inch pvc together into the water tote with a male fitting at the end. He cut off the end of our water hose and attached another female end. (so, both ends of our water hose are female). He attached the hose to the pvc, running it down our fence line.
When we attach the hose to our new spigot, we turn the spigot on then slowly restrict the water to the main line. With the force of our pool pump, we are able to fill the tank in almost no time at all.
Since our natural pool has goldfish in it and no chemicals, of course, the water is natural and healthy for watering my garden. This is a terrific alternative for the overflow water from our pool.
In doing some additional research as I was writing this post, I found a post with some additional methods of water collection. I really enjoy their posts on all kinds of things so I thought that you may enjoy as well.
Be sure to check out some of our other farm building projects! or check out the other awesome content on Two Oaks Farm Talk as well as A Life on the Farm for the more personal side of the homestead life. And don’t forget to go subscribe to the Two Oaks Farmstead Youtube Channel for all kinds of terrific content!!!
