Rain Barrel Construction made easy.

Thanks guys for your inquiries and encouragement to write some more. I had a nice break this summer. I think I'm back.

In my city this summer we had to endure the most strict "water use" restrictions I have ever encountered. Part of my response to this is to set up a "rain-barrel" so that I have an increased ability to water plants without using "city water".

Here in the lower mainland of BC we have the privilege of some of the cleanest water in the world, and since we only have a potable water system, that means that this very clean water is used for;

• drinking
• washing
• flushing toilets
• watering plants and lawns
• washing cars
• water fights

If we did have a system of "non-potable" water, there are many uses that the alternate water supply could meat without consuming our supply of "potable water".

Where we live, it seems as if it rains for about 6 months out of the year, so water restrictions feel "wrong" and leave people wondering where all that rain went to. In our city water is metered, and we pay for our consumption on our taxes. The price is very reasonable, so the rain barrel is not intended to be a money saving device, just a tool to help with my responsible water use.

Our roof has an area of about 800sq ft, so it can catch a significant about of rain which drains down 4 downspouts. If drainage is even (not likely) then each could gather from about 200sq ft. The other day it rained quite hard and the rainbarrel was filled, so I think this will be effective.

I'm thankful to my neighbour Wayne for donating a discarded plastic barrel that has a capacity 100L. After rinsing out this barrel I was able to make some simple changes so it could catch water. I am really thankful for the post on www.iwilltry.org that showed instructions for how someone in a neighbouring community built a similar rainwater collection system.

Platform

First I cut an 8' 4x4 made of pressure treated wood into four 2' sections to make a platform to raise the rainwater barrel. I just place 2 pieces in one direction and 2 in the other (like a log cabin). The barrel balances on top, and the 100KG it weighs when full keeps everything in place.

"drain tap"

Next I got a boiler faucet (cheaper than a normal garden tap) for about $5 and some o-rings that would fit, and some of the "nuts" used to fasten threaded electrical conduit (add $3 for those). I wrapped the threads on the faucet with teflon tape, added the "nut" and the o-rings and that completed the assembly for the "drain tap"

I drilled out a hole in the barrel for the tap, making sure the tap would not extend below the bottom of the barrel (and twist if weight was put on it.) after some sloppy "widening" with my largest bit, the hole was just large enough for me to thread in the faucet. I was surprised by the thickness of the barrel and it seemed that threading in the faucet would be sufficient without needing additional "nuts" on the inside of the barrel (my arms aren't that skinny.)

Collection

Now I had a tap, but no collection. One challenge was that the openings for the barrel had threaded openings that were above the surface of the barrel allowing for 3/4 inches of water to accumulate before any would enter the barrel. I didn't want standing water to allow mosquitos to breed, so noticing a lip on the top of the barrel I drilled 2 3/4 inch holes to force water to drain from the top (towards the faucet which would be slightly downhill).

To get the rainwater to collect over the threaded opening, I found a small round plastic "grate" ($1.5) fit the hole on the top of the barrel perfectly, and a child's plastic "sand-pail" with the bottom cut out served as a good "funnel" for holding the rain water over the "grate". 5 wraps of electrical tape to secure the "sand-pail" stopped leaks from getting past the grate/bucket. Some more 3/4 inch holes on the back of the "sand-pail" near the top assured any overflow would be directed onto the top of the barrel where it could be drained out the holes I had previously drilled. I added some rocks on top of the grate to keep it in place and to prevent leaves from completely blocking the grate.

At the hardware store I spotted a flexible plastic pipe (3 ft long, that was designed to fit a downspout, and which would keep its shape. After measuring the height required to allow this flexible pipe to drain downhill into the "sand-pail", I cut the downspout with a hacksaw, re-fastened the bottom of the downspout to the wall with plumber's tape and 2-1/4" screws, and attached the flexible pipe to the downspout using sheet metal screws. A few bends later and the barrel was ready to recieve rain.

A couple days later, all-day rain rewarded me with 100L of rainwater ready for the garden.

It happilly ran a soaker hose for about 4 hours, so presumably we could water a garden for most of a week with 1 barrel of water. Hmm now I'm getting tempted to add another...

I'll post some pictures shortly.

Next year when we grow our vegetable garden we'll have soft rainwater (free from chlorine) to give to our tomatoes and zuchinis and other leafy friends.

Cheers,

Greg.