Collect Rain Water With a Wine Barrel

by chouf

73K12024

Intro: Collect Rain Water With a Wine Barrel

I think I read all instructables on this site about collecting rain water.

Finally I've decided to build my own one with a wine barrel because I didn't want to destroy the look of my future-to-be terrace. I always found rain water collectors super ugly. It's usually an old plastic tank or barrel; handy but not very nice to the eye (and I didn't have the motivation to build something like this to hide it.

Anyway, here's how I did it.

Material

- a wine barrel (found on eBay for 50 EUR) - make sure to get one with a lid and a cork (usually it's a special cork located in the belly part of the barrel)
- a rain water collector to hook up to the gutter (found on eBay for 19 EUR - but otherwise available in nearly all DIY shop) - I choose that model because the collected water would come out via a little tube and not an "open-air" half-pipe
- driller
- flat wood drill heads
- some screws
- an old piece of board about the length of the barrel's lid
- a handle

STEP 1: Prepare the Barrel's Lid


Usually wine barrel's lids are a bit wobbly.

They are made of some planks inserted in each other, and are supposed to be inserted in a groove at the top, inside the barrel. Because of that I had to make the lid stronger so it would resist to frequent usage.

I found an old piece of wood board in my garage and screwed it tight at the back of the lid. I made sure to use rustproof (inox) screws. In order to be able to close the barrel and properly put the lid back on, (and because the lid is round) I had to saw the 4 corners of the board as you can see on the picture.

Last year we bought a new kitchen and we received two extra handles (don't ask me why), so I've decided to use one of them for my barrel.

The screws that came with the handle weren't long enough to go through the thickness of the lid + the board attached at the back. So I used a flat drill head to make a wider hole and reduce the thickness so I could properly attach the handle.

Make sure to place the handle in the middle of the lid, it's not only more beautiful but also easier to manipulate when you open/close the barrel.

STEP 2: Connect the Rain Water Collector on the Gutter


I followed the instructions that came with the PVC rain water collector (rwc) to hook it up to one of my gutter. It was super easy, I just had to saw a section of 8cm off the gutter at the right height and insert the collector.

IMPORTANT! In order to have an overflow and avoid my barrel to be overfilled, I installed the rwc a bit lower than the top of the barrel. Therefore the water in the barrel can't go higher than the height on the gutter where the water is collected.

I drilled a large hole with the wood flat drill head, inserted the transparent tube that came with the rwc then used silicon (same as for a shower tub or bath) to sealed it and make it water proof so the water could flow back via the tube should it reach a certain level in the barrel.

STEP 3: Here Comes the Rain


Within one week my barrel was full to the top (I was even surprised to get so much water in just a week). I now use it to water my plants, flowers, to wash my terrace etc...

There's still a little bit of wine smell when you open the barrel, but that's more a positive point than a negative one ;-)

20 Comments

dincrecords 2 years ago

can someone please help me .... 1 how long can rain water sit in the barrel ??? besides garden usages , how could one process this for drinking in a survival situation that is , would water purification tabs help , and thirdly would this need to be on a brick floor or could it be place on soil please any help

Ozy Mort 4 years ago

Hi, I've converted a 500 litre wine barrel to collecting
water off my roof for the sole purpose of watering plants in my Garden. I'm
based in Sydney Australia which you may know is experiencing drought and
unprecedented bush fire. Whilst we're in drought we are getting some rain
usually in large and quick amounts. In half an hour I can fill the barrel
enough for 2 weeks. My problem is after a short time the water smells of bad
eggs. The plants like it and the PH at 6.5 is good. Have you any ideas how I can
rid myself of the smell. Regards, David

SHOE0007 6 years ago

You know besides activated carbon you could place large amounts of zinc or copper metal (Not the salt) the metal. It would work quite well to reduce the harmful bacteria that may be growing in the water. Since you are putting it into the garden their is a risk (small) of pathogenic bacteria and fungi growing on your crop. This could really help. Another option is silver metal (Silver plated copper) but it may be very expensive.

mkrueger7 9 years ago

Did you worry about the wine impacting your garden? I purchased a whiskey barrel and was surprised with how fragrant it is - I'm slightly concerned if it will be harmful to my plants.

TheTunaMan 11 years ago

While we all know about the need to save water, This is an area where you need to be careful. The water all runs over petrol based shingles, which shed there particals on a daily basis. Even when only using to water a garden, YOU still take in what the shingle releases. It would be a great idea to filter it as if you were going to drink it, because in essence you will be. Just a thought from a Roofer with 20+ yrs on the job. JMHO


chouf 12 years ago

close ;-), i'm belgian

bgmd 13 years ago

 Great.  I've got an oak barrel and will do what you've suggested.  But how do you get the top off without destroying it?

chouf 13 years ago

 hi bgmd,

i'm not a "barrel expert", but as far as I know, i think you'll have to remove or loosen the top metal band in order to be able to push a little bit the planks aside so the top can come off its groove.

the way it works now with my barrel is that the lid is no longer in the groove, but on top of it (see my drawing on imagehsackhere). Personally the top came off quick easily, I only had to loosen a bit the metal band (I used a flat screw driver and a hammer to tap the band up)

hope this helps

Rocksterr 14 years ago

Nice handle!  I appreciate the aesthetics of  using a natural wood wine barrel as opposed to those ugly, plastic barrels.  Very classy set-up.

Grady 14 years ago

Frozened Juice Concentrate Distributors will usually sell there big plastic ones, along with the hardware, to put a spigot toward the bottom & one toward the top that all you have to do is screw on a water hose.

PS118 14 years ago

Classy! Great idea!

BeWaterWise Rep 14 years ago

This is an excellent idea for those who do not want to invest in a rain water barrel. Given the water shortage situations in several states in the US, water conservation is important. Some more tips on how to conserve water can be found at http://tr.im/vh3u

Ninzerbean 14 years ago

Love it love it love it - I have been putting off getting a rain barrel because they are so ugly, now I can get started on this with no restrictions about putting it out front or in the back out of sight. Way to go!

Weissensteinburg 14 years ago

It's a bit pricier, but the wine barrel looks great! Did you not add a spigot?

chouf 14 years ago

i was planning to install one and put the barrel a bit higher on some concrete blocs, but it was so quickly filled with water that I didn't want to waste all that clear water ;-) for the moment I'm using a watering can and it works fine until I have enough water of course; as it'll not be easy to get the water at the bottom of the barrel if the level is getting low

Weissensteinburg 14 years ago

I know exactly how you feel...my barrel can fill up in 10-20 minutes with some moderate rain, and I'll fill up any spare buckets lying around, just so I can use even more of that water later.