Rainwater Collection

With a heroic force of will, I went out yesterday and started building a wooden saddle for the water tank. This saddle will rest on a raised metal frame, anchored to a concrete base. The 200 gallon tank will rest in the saddle, and be attached to a downspout from the roof.

The primary use for the rainwater will be to irrigate two struggling avocado trees, which cannot abide my well water. I can also use the soft water for mixing slip, and as emergency drinking water.

Water Heater Blues

Fate threw me a curve ball, and now my water heater is failing. I found a replacement, but God, these special-emmision California water heaters are expensive. I'm saving probably $600 by shopping around, picking it up and installing it myself. In a way, it's all my fault, and now I know to drain it every month and flush out the crap sediment that collects from the well water.

I did nothing more with the water tank, and actually this water heater problem might be solved if I installed the water softener. I'm getting overwhelmed with all these jobs to do. All I can do is keep plugging away, first install the new water heater then move to working on the water tank.
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Nothing's ever easy. It's taking hour and hours to drain the old water heater, because the little drain valve is clogged with sediment. I also couldn't loosen the connections, I had to cut them. They might have been soldered, so I'll have to solder the new connections now.
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I couldn't lift it onto the platform the old one was on. I tried, but actually came close to hurting myself and dropping it. So in a different spot, I needed to extend the water, gas and vent lines. I bought a propane torch and learned to solder copper water pipes. All's well that ends well. With my mad skillz, it shouldn't be too difficult to install the water softener, but other priorities come first.