Rain Barrels

As I mentioned a few posts back, a couple weekends ago I built a rain collection system to collect and store rain water. We have a small detached garage, and behind it we now have a garden. I installed a gutter along the edge of the roof, and then added a downspout that feeds into a two-barrel storage system placed at the end of the garage. I built a small stand that elevates the barrels to improve water pressure and usability.

When I first started looking into this, everything I read led me to believe that one would need to spend somewhere between $79 and $150 for a 55 gal. container. I guess these experts have never heard of Craig's List because within a week I found a guy in Bellevue that had 55 gal. plastic containers for sale at $10 a pop. These are food-grade containers that used to hold tomato sauce and can be sealed water-tight. The guy goes to school at UNL, so he agreed to deliver them for free.

You might be surprised at just how advanced a "simple" rain collection system can get. In order to use both tanks I had to build a connection between them so the water level would equalize in the separate tanks. For this I threaded a male 3/4" threaded PVC adapter through a 1" hole in the side of each barrel. Surprisingly, the hole was a tight enough fit that it threaded itself in perfectly. From the inside of the barrel I placed a rubber O ring over the threads coming in from the outside, and then threaded a female adapter covered in thread compound onto the male adapter, pulling the whole assembly tight. I connected the two using a short piece of 3/4" PVC pipe.

I did basically the same thing with a 3/4" hose bib on the front of the system. I had a couple of 1/2" hose bibs laying around from previous home improvement projects, but I didn't realize they were smaller until I had already drilled my hole. This was at about 8:30 on a Sunday night. I drove out to Menards, but they were closed. I doubled back to Home Depot; closed. There's a QP Hardware store on north 48th that's known for having strange hours, so I decided to stop by there on my way back home. Sure enough, at about 9:15 on a Sunday night, they were open. They sold me my hose bib, and I was on my way.

Not one to waste an opportunity for an "upgrade," I drilled a smaller hole toward the top of the inlet barrel and installed one of the 1/2" hose bibs to function as an overflow valve. I drilled a 3/4" hole and it threaded in perfectly.

In order to keep mosquitoes out I added a piece of standard-issue window screen over the top and bottom of the downspout. I also drilled small (1/8", maybe) holes around the inside rims of the lids to vent the system and also so rain water that collects on the lids can drain into the barrels.

Once I had everything built (around 10:00 on a Sunday night), I turned on the hose and started "testing" the system. The water splashed onto the roof, trickled into the gutter, and began flowing into the barrels. Perfect. As they started to fill I wondered if the stand I had used would hold up at full capacity. At about 2/3 capacity I noticed the whole thing was leaning a little. I went to the garage to find some deck screws to shore things up a bit. By the time I got back, things were leaning a lot. I pushed against the side of the barrel, bringing things back toward level, but since I had dropped the drill I couldn't reach it to add any reinforcement to the platform. Oh, and the water was still running. I slowly moved away from the barrels, and they quickly returned to their precarious state. As I ran to the spigot to turn the hose off, I heard a cracking sound followed by a loud SPLOOSH.

Now, I've been known to over-engineer a project or two in the past, but you should see me go when I'm rebuilding something that's already failed once. When I rebuilt the platform I used 4×4 posts on all four corners, and the top level is composed of a couple layers of 2×4s arranged in various orientations to maximize their strength. The whole thing is held together using 3" coated deck screws. You could probably park a small German tank on it.

The first night after I re-built it we got a nice, light rain overnight. I'm not sure how many inches we got (1/2, maybe?) but I ended up collecting about 46 gallons of water. The water pressure isn't too bad, either. At ground level there is enough pressure to push a steady stream through one of those fan sprayers. My plan is to make my own soaker hose by poking holes in an old hose that is already missing its male end. That way I can snake it through the garden and only water the spots where I have things planted. This should help me save some water, and it will also deliver the water right at the roots so not as much evaporates.

Last night I added what should be the second-to-last "upgrade" to the system. Using a threaded elbow, an adapter, and a piece of clear plastic tubing I added a gauge on the side that shows the water level inside the barrels. Until now I've had to undo the clamp that holds the lid closed to check the water level. Now, I shouldn't have to open the lids for anything.

The final upgrade in the plans is to add a plug at the bottom of each barrel so they can be drained before winter, but that can wait until this fall. And, knowing me, I'm sure I'll come up with other modifications between now and then.

You can see more pictures of the system here.