FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Hello everyone!

I'm thinking of installing an RO/DI unit (considering buying a SpectraPure) in my yard, and want a way to protect it from the elements. I'm seeking ideas for a good way to do this.

My first thought was to buy a small cheap/used storage shed/bin, and simply mount the RO/DI unit on the inside, then have the outlet going into a small rain barrel or storage tank.

I only have a few plants, so I won't need a major setup.

Thanks in advance for your advice!

Where do you live? It sounds like you don't have a massive amount of plants, so it will probably be much less expensive to build your own rain collector. (I say build because I haven't seen one on the net)
You could connect your rain barrel to gutters on your house (or greenhouse if you have one) using a downspout connector, which are like $15-20 online. Similar to this: You could also get several sheets (or just one) of corrugated pvc sheets or coroplast, and make something like the following: I live in Florida, and are really dry. When it rains, however, mother nature seems to make up for lost time. I seem to always collect enough water to last me through the dry spells. (I have almost 20 cps and a bog garden to tend to, so I use at least 10 gallons every 3 weeks)

Hah! That second one is almost exactly what I was thinking of doing!

SFLguy wrote:Hah! That second one is almost exactly what I was thinking of doing!

Yeah, it's pretty much the best design for a rain collector. I like how it can be scales to whatever size or area you have to work with.

Especially since I can't really do the roof water thing

I live in Florida, and are really dry. When it rains, however, mother nature seems to make up for lost time. I seem to always collect enough water to last me through the dry spells. (I have almost 20 cps and a bog garden to tend to, so I use at least 10 gallons every 3 weeks)

Can i quote you and use your 2 images in my blog ?

Thanks everyone for the input.

I live in San Francisco where we don't actually get a lot of rain.

Rain Collector:
I have a really small yard. So maybe a collapsible rain collector that I can bring out only when it rains will work. Then during the dry season, I can take it down and hide it away. I just don't have enough space to leave something like that out all the time.

Roof gutters:
Not sure if water quality will be pure enough coming off my tar and gravel roof, and through my old metal gutters. Any advice on this?

EDIT: Maybe I can put a rain collector on my roof? That way, I can use new materials that won't contaminate the water? Still, we go through really long stretches with no rain. So I don't know how much I'd be able to collect.

Alvin 415 wrote:

Roof gutters:
Not sure if water quality will be pure enough coming off my tar and gravel roof, and through my old metal gutters. Any advice on this?

We have a flat garage roof which i used to collect rain from (running between the neighbours emptying small pots in buckets hahahaha).
After long dry spells runoff could have a tds of 350, while declining to <20 within 2 hours of moderate rain, so its hard to judge without a TDS meter.

The cheapest and safest method is order a cheap tds meter on ebay (10$ or so).

Sander wrote:

Alvin 415 wrote:

Roof gutters:
Not sure if water quality will be pure enough coming off my tar and gravel roof, and through my old metal gutters. Any advice on this?

We have a flat garage roof which i used to collect rain from (running between the neighbours emptying small pots in buckets hahahaha).
After long dry spells runoff could have a tds of 350, while declining to <20 within 2 hours of moderate rain, so its hard to judge without a TDS meter.

The cheapest and safest method is order a cheap tds meter on ebay (10$ or so).

I bought a TDS meter recently. We haven't had any rain, so no chance to test yet. The next time it rains, I could test before and after 2 hours of rain and see how it looks. Thanks!