Creating a Water Hole For Wildlife or Livestock- Storing Away Water For a Sunny Day.

If you don't have a creek, river, pond, lake or other dependable water source where you want it for your wildlife and/or livestock you can store away water for a sunny day!  The concept is often referred to as a rain guzzlers in arid regions.  It's a pretty simple concept.  Use a large holding tank to hold enough water to, hopefully, last through dry spells in between rains.  We built a small/mid sized guzzler with angle iron, tin roofing, guttering and a big water tote.

Using the angle iron we welded a frame big enough for the holding tank to fit on the inside and gave the roof a gradual slope.  We put metal roofing on top and installed a rain gutter on the low side to channel the rain water onto the holding tank.   The dimensions are roughly 5 1/2 feet high about 6 feet long and about 4 feet wide.

We set the structure on a high point and set a water trough slightly downhill from the tank and roofed frame.

Using various fittings and PVC pipe we piped down to the trough.  We installed a float valve (available at Tractor Supply Company) on the trough to stop the flow of water from the tank when the trough is full.

We put about 100 gallons into the 300 gallon holding tank as a starter supply and let the rain do the rest.  It's been about 6 months of both wet and dry and we still have plenty of water.  For the most part, it's self sustainable and requires little to no maintenance.  It has made a difference in wildlife traffic in this area of the ranch.

You can build your own guzzler bigger, smaller or however you feel serves your needs.  I will say that when I make my next one, I will be making the roof bigger than we did on this one.  In fact, I would advise you to make the roof as large as you can.

I hope this inspires you to do your own.  If so, please share photos and information with us!  Please leave your comments and subscribe to our blog.


-Steve Smith-

Note on the float valve,  These are available in various styles at Tractor Supply company priced between $19.00 and about $27.00.  They all attach about the same way and function the same.  They will receive a garden hose or the same size PVC fitting for more durable plumbing.