Rainwater Harvesting for Yurts

[someshds]

I am in the process of designing 2 yurts for myself, wife and 5 year old son to live in. One of my concerns is water. So I'm looking into ways of harvesting rainwater using the yurt. I've done a bit of research and watched a lot of video's but nobody is really doing it.

I'm thinking of making my

center ring

not circular but octagon shape, that way it will be easier to add a overhang over the walls then guttering on the overhang.

Any thoughts and advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

[Jafo]

The big manufacturers have rain catchment systems, but with one caveat: They don't advise installing them in snowy environments. What part of the world are you looking to build in?

[Bob Rowlands]

A yurt is radially symmetrical. Round engineering. The roof ring is round, the wall is round. Try to retrofit an octagonal hub and rafter system into a yurt is like trying to fit the proverbial square peg into a round hole. You might pull it off but it sure ain't gonna be elegant design. I'd consider engineering a system to collect drainage off the deck platform or slab for grey water. Good luck.

[someshds]

Hi Jafo

We live in Portugal. Being a Mediterranean climate it rains 'cats and dogs' during the winter months of october to february, nothing during july and august and sporadically the rest of the year.

Lot of wooden structures get rotten and break down from being so wet for months over the winter period. So not sure if using the decking to catch the rainwater is a good idea. Plus I was planning to have some gaps in the decking planking to allow air flow.

Which companies would service europe?

Thanks

[Bob Rowlands]

Well, I'll be darned. My wonderful wife is full blooded Portuguese.

[Knecht]

Hey someshds, nice to see another member from our side of the Atlantic here.
I'm with Bob on the matter of keeping the yurt and its parts circular. As for the rainwater, I'm not sure what to advice, other than building the yurt on a raised deck, with the wall cover draping over the deck edge. That would allow to catch the rainwater as it runs down the wall. If you had some sort of gutter around the deck, right under the edge, it might work...then what...maybe let the water collect somewhere under the middle of the deck (such as a large water tank) and pump it from there?
I'm not sure if it's really worth the work, unless your area has poor water source.
If you needed to make some sort of special gutter hooks or other non-standard supplies, my forge is ready....

[someshds]

We are aiming for a completely off the grid system. We dont want to be connected to any goverment system. With TEOTWAWKI just around the corner I feel that the more independent we are the better i'll sleep at night. I also practise permaculture and one of the principles is having many small independent systems rather than one big one.

I guess having guttering in the round will be a pain, but the guttering on the decking is more doable. Still a pain, just a little less. If I could find a picture of one that works, that would really help.

[Knecht]

Oh, a yurter AND a survivalist! Good.
I guess the guttering system around/under the deck is quite doable, if you think it's worth it. You should think of some filters though, to get the water as clean as possible into the tank. Otherwise it won't remain good for too long.
Also a hand pump to get the water out would be a good idea, if you're after off-grid life.

[Jafo]

If you can get round gutters, you could easily attach it to the skirt of the platform. Getting the round gutters will be the hard part. They do make them here in the US, but they are special order and expensive.

[Knecht]

Maybe he could get some large tubes (PVC?), bend them and cut them half lengthwise...?