Rainwater harvesting for horses drinking water

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LynH

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We are looking for solutions for a drainage problem on our house. One option is rainwater harvesting and as the fields and yard are very close to the house I was wondering if we could use harvested rainwater as drinking water for horses as well as for washing etc.

We are likely to be put on a water meter so this could add to the financial viability of harvesting over a charge for using public sewers for rainwater. We can use a soakaway thanks to being on clay. (B***** clay has caused so many problems with my arena and the house foundations and now the soakaway).

I'd been interested in hearing from anyone who uses harvested rainwater for horses if this is possible.
 
We use a field drain in the winter for water when the taps freeze over as it keeps running pretty much all the time. So it's not harvested as such but is free! We have it engineered through a pipe and down a funnel to a dammed area we have created, very handy in winter!
 
We have water at yard , but we also have water butts & we tend to use water out of these 1st for water for stables etc.. I've just added an exta water butt as we're overflowing with the amount of rain we have had - they do freeze & it's easier to et water from the tap sometimes in winter x
 
I've been using water butts and empty them very regularly but we are looking at a proper underground harvesting system and my worry is that we wouldn't use it quickly enough. The trouble with the butts is that they fill very quickly and the rest of the water from the stable roof is not draining away because of the clay ground. If we add rainwater from the house too could it go stagnant before we use it (3horses) or does it last longer stored underground?
 
I asked about this for our house and was told that if you want to use stored harvested water for horses then you need it treated. IIRC reverse osmosis systems were mentioned. This was all going to put the cost up too much for us so I didn't pursue it.
 
If a proper harvesting system isnt viable you could try IBC tanks instead of water butts, the water in mine is fine to use for most of the year and keeps perfectly. The only time I dont use it is if it hasnt rained for a while and we get a downpour as then that takes all the grime off the roof and in to the water

They arent pretty but they hold a lot of water and if you get the height right you can get enough pressure to run a hose, they are also quite slow to freeze and easy to wrap if needed
 
When I had my own place I only had harvested rainwater. In the last year I was there, I put in a mahoosive butt (the large square white one, with a cage around it). That collected from the back of the stable. At the front, I had a trough directly under a downpipe. You could do similar at your house, but with a butt under the down pipe! You can also get pumps for water butts, which means you can use them with a hosepipe.

Although in heavy rain the butts did fill, you can put in an overflow pipe near the top of it which leads to a fresh butt - repeated as many times as you like, space allowing! I used my water for everything, so it was always replaced (bucket washing, tack cleaning, hay soaking).

They do freeze in winter, so it's best to fill up smaller containers and store them (I put the containers inside the feed room) if sub zero temperatures are forecast.
 
We have 2 rain butts and use this water for washing down, tack cleaning etc.

One of the gutters around the barn has a leak, but rather than fixing it, we cleaned out the gutter and placed a clean black bin underneath to collect the water. We keep a regular eye on the gutter to ensure cleanliness, and use the water for the horses too drink.

Has saved us a fortune as are on a water meter!
 
You can use harvested rainwater for horses I believe, so long as the tank has been treated with a special coating. I wouldn't have thought reverse osmosis would be necessary.. and you are correct, this is expensive. An underground tank will prevent freezing in winter too. Rainwater harvesting systems range from very simple solutions (like water butts) to more complex ones so you are best to talk to a professional company. Hope this advice helps :)
 
We have a massive brick built storage tank that was put in when the bungalow was built. We have the roof running into in and we rarely run out . It has a massive capacity and never goes sour or stale because it is so deep and underground. We also use tanks on the stable roofs and they get cleaned out once a year. Our water bill is tiny and we have no charges for drainage .
Our horses ,pigs,sheep and poultry have been happy and healthy since we moved here 8 years ago.
 
At the yard where I keep my horse, we use harvested rain water for the horses to drink when stabled. It is collected from the guttering in 3 butts. I've only been there 6 months but there has always been enough water.(Only 3 of us though) We do of course have a tap we can use as well.
 
Thank you all for your replies. As a soakaway from the house isn't possible I will need to weigh up the costs and benefits of a harvesting system against the charges from Thames Water if we were to divert rainwater into the sewer but I will continue and increase the collection from the stables roof and use that for the horses.
 
Over here, using rainwater is one of the ways we get water to our horses. We even use rainwater to supply our houses. If not then properties will use a bore. We don't have reverse osmosis systems or anything, just concrete tanks and a pump. Had no problems and the horses prefer the rain water or bore water to scheme water.
If we are feeling lazy and can't be bothered walking all the way up to the house, my friends and will drink water out the hose straight from the tank. I have been doing it for years and it hasn't killed me yet.
 
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