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Step 9Final Thoughts
After completing this project I have been able to water all of my plants with nothing but free water that came to me courtesy of Mother Nature. Some modifications I plan on making in the future are:
1. An overflow valve. The first night of operation I gathered 55 gallons of water and the rest just flowed over the top of the barrel. I would have preferred the water to have gone out the side through a piece of PVC pipe and back to where the downspout originally drained (onto the root system of a beautiful mimosa tree).
2. Screens. To avoid any mosquito problems I have put in some of the anti-mosquito granules you can buy at Lowe's but this isn't an optimal solution. What I would like to do is fasten a piece of screen over the hole to prevent them from getting to the water in the first place.
3. Quick Connector. Screwing the hose on and off of the barrel is kind of a pain in the tookus. I'm building a square foot garden about 2 feet away so I don't need much hose to begin with, but I think it would spare me lots of frustration if I could just walk up to it, slap on the hose, do my watering, and disconnect it just as easily.
Like I said in the beginning of this Instructable, this is not the best rain barrel design out there. Many of the other projects were raised higher off the ground to encourage more pressure coming from the spigot, many were angled to increase pressure and water drainage, and some were even designed to supply water for more than just watering plants (car cleaning, toilet flushing, etc.). This Instructable, however, was meant to show a fast, easy way to collect and utilize water from the sky. I tried to stay in line with the K.I.S.S. philosophy as much as possible. The total cost for this project was $22.37 (including tax) but that will vary from user to user as some supplies you may already have on hand, and some you will have to pay for. I urge you to try something like this if your situation allows for it (even apartment dwellers could do a small scale version of this with old gallon sized milk jugs), and by all means please let me know how things turn out for you.
Thanks for listening Chiiiiiildren!
1. An overflow valve. The first night of operation I gathered 55 gallons of water and the rest just flowed over the top of the barrel. I would have preferred the water to have gone out the side through a piece of PVC pipe and back to where the downspout originally drained (onto the root system of a beautiful mimosa tree).
2. Screens. To avoid any mosquito problems I have put in some of the anti-mosquito granules you can buy at Lowe's but this isn't an optimal solution. What I would like to do is fasten a piece of screen over the hole to prevent them from getting to the water in the first place.
3. Quick Connector. Screwing the hose on and off of the barrel is kind of a pain in the tookus. I'm building a square foot garden about 2 feet away so I don't need much hose to begin with, but I think it would spare me lots of frustration if I could just walk up to it, slap on the hose, do my watering, and disconnect it just as easily.
Like I said in the beginning of this Instructable, this is not the best rain barrel design out there. Many of the other projects were raised higher off the ground to encourage more pressure coming from the spigot, many were angled to increase pressure and water drainage, and some were even designed to supply water for more than just watering plants (car cleaning, toilet flushing, etc.). This Instructable, however, was meant to show a fast, easy way to collect and utilize water from the sky. I tried to stay in line with the K.I.S.S. philosophy as much as possible. The total cost for this project was $22.37 (including tax) but that will vary from user to user as some supplies you may already have on hand, and some you will have to pay for. I urge you to try something like this if your situation allows for it (even apartment dwellers could do a small scale version of this with old gallon sized milk jugs), and by all means please let me know how things turn out for you.
Thanks for listening Chiiiiiildren!
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Jul 7, 2010. 11:58 AMdorkjackson
says:
Thanks for a sweet and simple barrel plan. And amusing too!
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Sep 20, 2009. 7:31 PMplumber4
says:
Oh yeah, a couple more things: I did not notice an overflow on your barrel. They are pretty good to have with maybe a soaker hose connected to it run into say a flowerbed or garden. Also, my first barrel I put the spout at the very bottom as you did. It works fine. But because of sediment, I put the spout on my most recent one a bit highter up so the spout doesn't get stuff in it and reduce flow. Just thought that I would share my mistakes with you. These barrels are a fun way to collect free water and just a fun project. There are so many different ways to make these things.
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