In this instructable, I'm going to show you how to set up a rain barrel, including the preparation and the building.

You can use your rain barrel as a water storage for your garden and protect the environment by saving water. It also saves you money because you don't need to pay for rain water.

Enjoy building your rain barrel!

Material:

1 rain barrel (size is in the first step)
1 water tab
4 sealing rings
1 hose with brass pieces (specially made for rain barrels)
2m of downpipe
1 rain collector
1 downpipe connector

Tools:

a cordless screwdriver
a pipe wrench
a pencil
a saw
files
lubricant
a spirit level

I'm only 12 and from Germany, so please don't mind all the spelling mistakes I did ;)

Step 1: Preparing and Buying the Rain Barrel

As the first step, go to a website like google maps and search your house or flat. Than measure the area of your roof where you can "take" the water from. Pay attention to the scale! Than take a look at the average rainfall per year in your town. Now think about how big your barrel should be. That for, you take a look at the average rainfall per day of all rainy days. Than you convert the number of mm into litres. For example: For a roof of 50m² with an average rainfall per rainy day of 10mm, you can calculate it like this:

10mm ≙ 10l/1m²

10l * 50m² = 500l

Attention! You can mostly only use half of the width of your roof, because otherwise you need 2 rain barrels for each side.

Now, you can change it a little bit. Our rain barrel is only 300l, but that's still very much. It depends on the money, you want to spend for your rain barrel and on how much water you use per day (e.g. for watering your plants). Then buy a rain barrel. That for, it's the best to go to a DIY store, because then you don't have to pay very high shipping costs and you can choose it right there.

!!! Only buy a rain barrel if you have a good spot for it !!!

Step 2: Preparing the Spot

Then, prepare the spot. It should be flat, near a rain downpipe and big enough for your rain barrel. Rake the ground so it's horizontal. Remove all the plants. Put some stone slabs there, so the rain barrel can stand on them. You can use a rubber mallet and gloves that for. Place your rain barrel there to test it. If it is wobbly, change it a little bit.

Step 3: Cutting the Rain Downpipe and Filing

In the first 2 pictures, you can see what you need:

A long piece of a downpipe, a connector and a collector. Mark the spots where the rain collector ends. Saw it around two or three centimeters deeper, so you can put them together.

Draw a straight line around the downpipe and saw it there.

Attention! The ends are very sharp!

To prevent you from cutting in your hands every time you touch the ends, file it smooth.

Step 4: Connecting the Pieces

To connect it, interlock the different items as you can see on the images. You can use lubricant for easier connection of the components.

Step 5: Drilling Holes

Next up, you drill a hole. It is to drain water and on the very bottom of the barrel. The diameter should be as big as the screw thread's diameter.

Step 6: Drilling Holes 2

For the next step, you need some kind of hose, which you can see in the image. There need to be 2 pieces of brass at the ends to connect it. It also needs to be very rugged, so the water can't go out after some time. The end with the two "ears" needs to be connected to the downpipe and the other end has to get connected to the barrel. The diameter has to be as big as the brass end, which you can see in the second image. Drill the two holes and file them.

!!! Attention !!! Remove the plastic leftovers on the ground to leave a clean place at the end. #no_plastic_in_the_environment

Step 7: Screwing the Last Things

To screw the last things in, you need 2 sealing rings for each hole. Screw them in as you can see in the images. Also connect the hose (which you should have used in the last step) to the downpipe.