Need Free Water? Build a Rain Barrel

For the price of a 55 gallon plastic barrel (sometimes free), and about $10 in parts, you can build your own rainwater collection system. Water is good. Free water is better.

If you already know that water won't run uphill and how to handle a drill, you can do this. The most ingenious part of the design is the hose-to-barrel connection. Since the attached hose will frequently be tugged during normal use, it is important to use a mechanical connection rather than a glued connection.

This design uses a simple garden hose washer, standard garden hose parts, and a special adapter, that's not really all that special. It's expandable and useful for more than just capturing rain water.

Step 1 Got Parts?

You will need a barrel. The bigger the better. 55 gallon is good. I like plastic, but metal will work. Don't use barrels that held something toxic in a former life, go for something wholesome, like lawn fertilizer, or laundry detergent. I picked up this one at a local recycler for $4.

Also, while in town, pick up a garden hose valve, garden hose washer, and a MHT to FPT 3/4" plastic adapter. What? MHT = Male Hose Thread. FPT = Female Pipe Thread. Plastic = plastic. You'll know it when you see it. Less than $10 total.

I had some old parts handy to draw from.

The gutter modification comes later.

Comments

[jfellens]

We simply placed some feeder goldfish in our rain barrell to eat the mosquito larvae.

[khalednm]

 has anyone looked into putting a deionizer into the spigot setup?  This would eliminate the risk of acid rain... and an activated charcoal filter should remove any other contaminants...

[led_scorched]

The rain just ran over a roof.... I'd be more worried about what it picked up there (tar, solvents, bird poo, etc) than I would be about acid rain. This is meant for grey water type uses - drinking water is cheap enough (fractions of a cents a gallon) that I wouldn't recommend trying to pinch those pennies.

[tastethefruit]

Very nice rain barrel - simple and easy. I have built something similar, but tie the barrels together. I use a small pump from Home Depot to empty the barrels.

You can see the beast here...

http://greenterrafirma.com/DIY_Rain_Barrel.html

Also includes step by step instructions with pictures.

[bwells2]

Do you know how much money it will save on your water bill? That is amazing! Thank you for sharing.

[intel_intel]

thenk

[greenlivingeco]

We just built our own rain barrel too. It is a little different from the one built in the post. Check out our step by step make a rain barrel guide to see how we built ours.

[zilcho]

if your going to drink it i would add some water filters

[groovy]

Bad choice of avatar........

[zilcho]

How so?

[garden goddess]

Nice job! We have a similar design, and it works great!

[garden goddess]

Oops! Meant to include our design for comparison: http://tylertork.com/diyrainbarrels/construction.html

[ezgnann]

I am having some trouble finding food grade barrels in my area (northern Louisiana). Is there any reason why 55 gallon plastic trashcans cannot be used? they are readily available, reasonable, and durable?

[cytoxin]

Where did you get the parts for the hose connectors? I checked Home Depot and Lowes and couldn't find anything like these...

[McSensei]

Home Depot and Lowes _should_ have those parts. However, i found them at a local farm supply store, Rural King. With hindsight, I'd use larger-diameter hoses for the project. Garden hose is just too small to allow a significant amount of water to flow at "rain-barrel pressure".

[jpatramirez]

what would someone recommend if you do not have a downspout? our pitched roof homes in El Paso TX do not normally have these attached...is there another way to collect water without downspout?

[aptd27]

@jpatramirez You would need a downspout diverter... you can get them here:

Rain Barrels

[eddy14777]

great thought but if you live somewhere with power plants basically in your back yard this could produce acid rain

[becca-boo]

 Acid rain is fairly common, true, but the water that is being collected should only be used to water gardens, wash cars, etc.; every thing that would be exposed to the rain already. This water shouldn't be used as drinking water for sure, it's not exactly the definition of potable water.

[Ryutso]

Or you flip the rain barrel over and have someone stand inside it and hold the 2 parts.

[mclelm]

Rainwater Harvesting systems are great; I have two barrels in two locations.  I don't know if anyone mentioned this (I didn't read the 69 comments), but if you've got this type of white barrel or any other translucent barrel anywhere the sun shines on them, algae will grow; at least it did on my white barrel.  The barrel will have to be shielded in some way- by painting the barrel or some sort of solid box, trellis with vines, etc.

[Skylerk]

There is an awesome rain barrel diverter called RainReserve. And it has a large spigot that can do up to 10GPM. And to modernmans question: the diverter and attachments are closed, so that water will go back up the tubing into the diverter and out the downspout. Found at:
http://www.rainreserve.com

[!Andrew_Modder!]

ya, just collect it, strain it then purify or boil it! P.S. there is a company in texas selling bottled rain water, and they claim the mineral content makes the water taste almost a little sweet, and is defiantly difrent from your avrage water. I think im gona do this instructable, because where i live in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio our water is bad (its really hard) and super calciumic (i made that word up so dont comment me on that word!)

[lancesb]

I partly agree with with Dessyl, I've researched many of  the polluted rivers around the Great Lakes/ MidWest/ Northern Appalachia, & I wouldn't trust any tap water there either. But have you considered where you rain water comes from? You might want to do some research into acid rain, which was most prevelant around those same rivers & lakes. Texas (except for oil production metros like Houston), the SW, & the Rocky Mt states have purer rain water because it's evaporated from cleaner sources. I would say to anybody, if you don't like your tap water, do not drink you rainwater. & if you're using it for gardening maybe at least test the pH before you use it on expensive plants. Good luck.

[erniesthings]

Down in wadsworth area, I was given a free barrel in may. I haven't had to turn on the garden hose once this summer. I was close back in july. I was just given 2 more barrels. I have one hooked up. Probably won't hook the other one up until spring. I might actually water the lawn next summer.

[Dessyl]

Yeah, I live in Stow, Ohio (which is right next to Cuyahoga Falls for those who don't know) and the water is pretty bad. But it isn't as bad as it used to be. At one point the the Cuyahoga River caught on fire near Cleveland due to the pollution (A long time ago). However, now the water just smells and tastes bad. This is a good idea. You can use the water for pretty much anything, but I have a few concerns. Because it is relatively stagnant water bacteria and algae can build up and mosquitoes may be attracted to it.

[Goedjn]

That's why people keep goldfish in their rain barrels. they eat the mosquito larvae.

[Kiteman]

(There's a brand of processed cheese sold in the UK with the tag "It's calci-yummy")

[amethysteria]

We have a dairy-based dessert called "Calci-yum"

[spike shadows (secret agent man)]

its like that all over northeast ohio. barbertons' is terrible at the irst of the month

[bfarm]

What happens in Winter / freezing conditions? Can picture a frozen barrel with a massive run off of melting rooftop snow all pouring out next to the house's foundation. Maybe a much larger overflow? I'm thinking of using this set up connected to soaker hoses to water the landscaping.

[McSensei]

In the winter, the barrel must be emptied of all water and snow-melt diverted away from the barrel. Not sure how well the collected rain water would work for a soaker hose. There is always debris in the rain water, and that may clog a soaker hose.

[plumber4]

The water works fine in the soaker hose. Not all of the water needs to be drained in the winter. When the water freezes, it must have enough room for expansion. If it doesn't the barrel may crack. Being that the walls of most barrels are so thick, I doubt that they would split. If you have metal fittings or piping, the water needs to be drained.

[james.mcglashan]

what do u mean clean water there are no filters and the water has things from the gutter?????????

[rowerwet]

to keep most of the junk out of my rain barrel, I cut my downspout about 7' above the ground, and put a PVC 3"X3"X2" hub on the end of downspout. the 2" is on the side at a 45 degree angle going down, coming off the lower 3" is a pipe that goes almost to the ground with a ball valve on the end. the two inch pipe slopes off to another 45 degree bend that dumps into the rain barrel bung (no cutting involved). I leave the ball valve shut and empty it out after each rain storm, this pipe captures the dirt and leaves that get washed out of the gutter, and after the pipe fills the rest of the water goes into the barrel. During the winter I leave the ball valve open and it drops directly into a grate that drains into under ground perforated pipe to carry the water away from my foundation, the over flow from the barrel goes to the same drain pipe. after all the water above the ball valve is emptied into the watering can, I siphon into the watering can from the other barrel bung with a "shaker" siphon (has a valve on the end with a marble in it to start the flow by rocking the hose in and out.

[McSensei]

Can you post a picture?

[Jouda Mann]

I wonder if this can be optimized for keeping mosquitoes out. I live in nort Texas, and there is local legislation being discussed which will outlaw standing water because of the dangers of West Nile and so on. Could your design be modified to something like this?

[jesmedley]

I just toss a mosquito "dunk" into the barrel.

[thetech101]

Something like this would be a really good design. Just change the outer filter to glass (to heat the water; if you're worried about algae just paint the glass black with at least two layers of paint) instead of what's listed in the picture. If you paint the glass black, your setup could slide under the legislation if it is put into effect. This will be my setup, but I'm gonna use some used hot water heater tanks and a solar hot water heater to provide hot water for my house. Free clean hot water!

[shadesofsisyphus]

If you are going to do this to prevent mosquitos, throw an S-Trap (like on your sink/toilet/whatever) into the downspout. I would bet mosquitos would fly up that chute to lay eggs (not sure if they need sun, but I doubt it) and the S-Trap would allow a bit of that, but the washing action when it overflows would drown the eggs. Failing that, the s-trap would provide a MUCH smaller surface for egg laying.