Honestly, water ain't cheap where I live, and watching gallons just disappear down the drain every time I fired up my pressure washer started bugging me. Felt wasteful, you know? Figured there had to be a way to catch at least some of it. After poking around online, I saw fancy reclamation setups costing a small fortune. Nah, I wanted cheap and simple. Here's what I cobbled together:

The Idea Grabbed Me Over Coffee

Picture this: I'm staring at the darn hose spewing water onto the driveway, thinking about my empty 5-gallon plastic storage tubs gathering dust in the garage. Lightbulb moment! What if I could just funnel the runoff water back into one of those? Sounded almost too simple.

Raid the Garage & Hit the Store

First thing I did was rummage. Found:

• A sturdy plastic storage tub (the big rectangular kind). Bigger is better here.
• A chunk of leftover gutter downspout pipe. Felt lucky finding this.
• An old bucket. Bit cracked, but hey, it was free.

Then I headed to the hardware place. Picked up:

• A cheap plastic utility sink drain kit. Had a grate and a fitting.
• Some clear vinyl tubing. Sized it slightly bigger than the drain outlet.
• A roll of waterproof duct tape. Trusty stuff.
• A short length of flexible downspout extension. Just in case.

Assembly Time: Fingers Crossed

Alright, back in the garage, ready to play plumber.

1. Put that tub to work. Hauled it right under the spot where the water runs hardest off the driveway. Made sure it was dead level so water wouldn't just pool on one side.
2. Made a hole. Took a deep breath and cut a hole near the bottom of one short side of the tub. Just big enough to shove the drain fitting through from the inside. Pushed it in, fumbled with the lock nut on the outside (scraped a knuckle, figures), and tightened it as best I could.
3. Filter that muck. Screwed the grate part of the drain kit onto the inside of the fitting. Easy peasy, catches the leaves and bigger junk.
4. Tube time. Shoved one end of the vinyl tube right onto the drain fitting sticking out of the tub. Clamped it down tight with a hose clamp I had lying around (actually found one!).
5. The slope is key. Ran the tube across the garage floor to another empty tub sitting nearby. Made damn sure the tube sloped steadily down the whole way. Gravity's my friend here – water ain't gonna run uphill! Used a couple of old books under the tubing midway to keep the sag out.

Test Run Disaster... Almost

Heart pounding a bit, I turned on the pressure washer and started blasting the deck. Watched the runoff rush into the first tub. Water started swirling around the grate filter – so far so good. Then I saw water begin to trickle through the tube! Felt like a win! BUT... quickly saw my "sloping with books" idea sucked. The tube sagged badly in the middle, practically flatlined. Water slowed to a crawl and damn near clogged. Cue minor panic.

Quick Fix & The Payoff

Turned off the washer. Ran back inside, grabbed the flexible downspout extension I bought. This stuff is rigid enough to hold its shape. Yanked the books away and laid the flexible downspout flat on the garage floor where the tube sagged. Rested the vinyl tubing inside this channel. Instant perfect slope! Turned the washer back on.

Success! Water flowed smooth and clear through the tube into the second tub. Not super fast, mind you, but definitely capturing maybe half the runoff? Way better than nothing! After cleaning up, I drained the reclaimed water from the second tub into my garden watering cans. Free water for the plants!

Not Perfect, But It Works

Look, this ain't gonna win any beauty contests. The whole setup looks like crap, duct tape holding some of the tube joins. And it definitely doesn't catch everything, especially if the spray is wide. But holy smokes, it cost me under 30 bucks in new parts and it captures a ton of usable water I'd have otherwise lost. Feels smart, saved money. I'll call that a win any day. Might tinker with the intake or filter next.