Underground Rainwater Storage in an IBC With Pumped Supply

Budget pumped rainwater storage. Commercial rainwater storage can be several thousand pounds. To save money I wondered if you could bury an IBC and it turns out you can ! Here's a complete pumped rain water system for about GBP 100.

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Step 1: Dig a Big Hole

Dig a very big hole. A standard IBC can be bought for GBP 40-50 and is 1mx1mx1.2m. It took about 3 evenings after work to dig the hole. We're lucky and have nice light soil.

Step 2: Put Your IBC in the Hole and Connect

Drop that beast in there. I put a bottle gully at the base of the downpipe. I used a holesaw to cut a 100mm hole in the side of the IBC for the water in. For the overflow I used 40mm pipe which I drilled lots of holes in a ran it to a soakaway.

Step 3: Make It Nice Again.

I first backfilled with earth. Next I used weldmesh to cover the IBC and fitted a inspection cover (From Drain Center) over the screw cap on the top. Then I poured with concrete.

Not too bad looking, if I say so myself.

Step 4: Connect the Pump

Found an excellent pump on ebay for GBP 50 from a German seller called "werkzeuge-online"
It's a cheap Chinese knock off but works fine. It's got an accumlator and a pressor switch which holds the water at 2 bar.

Mounted in the garage. Ran the suction hose through the wall into the IBC. Ran 15mm pipe to the garden tap, which now runs pure rainwater !

I've been using the system for Aug and Sept and it's been perfect. The tank has been nearly full the whole time.