Rain Barrels

[leighcat]

I found a place that sells those big blue empty feed barrels. They only want $20 each. It is a bit of a drive, but much less money than ready-made rain barrels.
Does anyone have advice on how to convert them into rain barrels? I will need to make it mosquito-proof and make it so debris doesn't get in and clog it. I would love some advice on what to buy to convert them.

[akolb]

check out Outside - Camping, Boating, Survival .
They have several rain barrel tutorials depending on what your setup will be.

[MomToTwoBoys]

I already have rain barrels and the first thing I thought of was putting screen on the top. I assume that you can add a water feed tap at the bottom (kind of like a gravity-fed hose that comes out of the bottom front).

[starsapphire]

The Instructables website has tutorials on rain barrels.

[Grainlady]

There are many ways to convert barrels, so you'll have to do some studying and decide which method will work best for you. I spent 2 months on the subject before we installed our barrels.

Here are a couple links that uses the blue barrels:
Build Your Own Rain Barrel

How to Construct a Rain Barrel

We have approximately 1,000-gallon capacity in our water containment system and use closed barrels so we don't lose water through evaporation. Barrels with screens on the top tend to have a lot of water loss through evaporation. This is important where we live since summer temperatures are often 100°F+. It's also important if you are in a drought situation and every bit of water you can contain is important.

We have a downspout diverter (Downspout Diverter | Buy from Gardener's Supply) on each downspout. We like this type because it works well with closed barrels, and when they are full of water, it directs the rain back down the downspout and eliminates the need for an over-flow hose. This method also prevents mosquitoes from getting into the barrels. Over-flow hoses are a place the pests can get into your barrel.

There are a number of diverters available, or you can use a method that spills the water directly into the barrel from the downspout. Once again, you need to decide which method works best for your needs.

You need an overflow hose at the top of your barrels to eject water when the barrels are full, so you'll need the fittings for that, as well as a spigot or hose at the bottom to disperse the water. Make sure you place the overflow hose so the water is directed AWAY from your home's foundation and that it is long enough to get the water away from your home. Use a hose with a large diameter as possible. During a downpour you will need to displace a LOT of water. If the hose is small, you'll end up with your gutters overflowing.

Some things you may not know...

1. The higher off the ground you place the barrels, the more gravity flow you'll get. If you place them on concrete blocks, one coarse high is about enough to get your watering cans under the spigot for filling. So take some careful measurements. We have watering cans at all our rain barrels for easy access to watering.

Our concrete blocks are placed on a fiberglass pad that are normally used for holding an air conditioner unit outside. The reason for the pad is to stabilize your barrel. We had one large barrel tip because of the concrete blocks sinking into the ground, even though we made a base using sand and river rocks to place them on. Concrete pads will also work, which you can make yourself or purchase pre-cast.

2. Opaque or white barrels need to be painted. These barrels allow too much light into the water and you'll get a growth of algae. Large open screens on the top of barrel can also allow too much sunlight into barrels which contributes to algae growth. Algae isn't dangerous, it's just a bugger to clean out of the barrels. We power-wash our barrels out each fall before we winterize them.

There is a special spray paint that is designed to work on plastic you can use. We purchased a special primer and paint from Sherwin Williams for use on plastic that is matched to our house color, so the barrels blend into the house.

Our first container was a plastic 210-gallon farm container that is designed to be used in the back of a pick-up truck. It is oval with a rounded top and we painted it to look like a giant ladybug, so get creative. We also have a sign proudly stating our garden barrels contain "Sky Juice". Another barrel we painted to look like water and put stickers in the form of fish and other sea-life on it.

3. You can connect more than one barrel to a downspout, especially if the run of gutter is long. You will need to cut a hole in each barrel and place a rubber grommet into the hole and connect two barrels with a hose or pipe. We have two barrels linked together in all but one downspout.

We have two 150-gallon containers linked together, so they are filled from the same downspout. We use these barrels to water the strip of grass in the back yard and attach a soaker hose to the barrels. These barrels are higher off the ground so there is enough force to get the water to the end of the hose.

If you place your linking hose down low on your barrels, they will fill equally. If you place the connecting hose up high, the first barrel will fill first before spilling into the second barrel, and on down the line. We have used both types of linking. It depends on how you use your barrels as to which method of linking will work the best.

[KentuckySaver]

Be sure to check with bottling plants that may be near by. There is a Pepsi bottling plant just south of here and they sell food grade barrels cheap. 3 bucks for the 55 gal and 2.50 for the 30 gal and 2 dollars for the 5 gal. I got a bunch of them too.

[happymomof4]

We got our rain barrels from a local factory that pays to get rid of there extra barrels. So they were more then happy to give us some for nothing. We bought the rest of the stuff we need at the local hardware store.

[KeithBC]

I found this link on another forum from a guy who's built a rain barrel system. There might be some more ideas there.

[PinkTulip]

I really wanted to buy one this year, but I don't think we get enough rain to make it worthwhile. hmmm...Should think about this some more...

[McD]

I have heard that some water utilities offer a rebate type offer when residents purchase something like that. I know the utility I work for doesn't, but we've had several calls inquiring about it. Couldn't hurt to check it out!

[KeithBC]

I really wanted to buy one this year, but I don't think we get enough rain to make it worthwhile. hmmm...Should think about this some more...

Not getting enough rain is the best reason to collect the little bit that you do get. You'd be surprised how little rain it takes to fill a barrel. With my average-sized roof, I get 25 gallons of water from each millimetre (1/25th of an inch) of rain! One little shower will fill your barrel.

[Grainlady]

I really wanted to buy one this year, but I don't think we get enough rain to make it worthwhile. hmmm...Should think about this some more...

Here's a Rainfall Collection Calculator: Rainfall Collection Calculator

I'm with Keith on this one. Surprisingly, it really doesn't take that much rain to fill barrels. It takes 1/2-inch of rain to fill a 50-gallon barrel at our house. We reconnect our barrels in March, and a couple good spring rain showers is all it takes to fill our 1000-gallon capacity. The trick is to have as many barrels, as possible, not just one. Even during a very dry summer when city water use is restricted, we've never been without enough water for the small garden, containers/planters, and landscaping from our barrels.

You also need to figure your total need. I believe I read in Square Food Gardening, 1-gallon of water per week per square foot. It also depends on weather conditions. By the time the weather gets really hot around here (100°+F) and rain is in short supply, there's not all that much garden left to water. I don't need to tend 50 tomato plants when 2 or 3 will do. One zucchini and cucumber plant will feed the whole block.