How to Make a Rain Barrel that’s efficient, cost effective and most of all Makes use of All the Rainwater you can Direct to it.
Rain Barrels are now becoming a must have garden accessory as more and more gardeners see the benefits of using rainwater in the garden. Rain Barrels are also becoming a popular DIY project as they are relatively simple to make, so about half way through last year I decided to go ahead and make a rain barrel myself.
The first thing I did was to do some research on the internet and what I found both amazed me and surprised me. There was information everywhere on How to Make a Rain Barrel. It seems like everyone had their own rain barrel design and of course this makes sense as they’re such an easy DIY project that nearly anyone can do.
The thing that surprised me though, was that many of the designs seemed to have some basic flaws, and this even included some of the so called professionally build rain barrels. The reason why they had flaws was because they failed to take into account one of the main limitations of collecting and storing rain water in a rain barrel. Rain barrels don’t store very much rain water. Most only store around 55 gallons. So the question was what to do about this?
Well, I went ahead and designed my very own Rain Barrels and as a consequence I’ve written an eBook called How to Make a Rain Barrel. For a limited time I’m giving it away for FREE. All you need to do is enter your details to the right and you can download it and if you’re unsure please read our privacy policy. We’ll won’t pass on your email address and you can unsubscribe at any time.
You may also notice I’ve designed a downspout diverter as well which is an integral part of my rain barrel design so please take some time to check it out as well.
The Overflow
One of the commonest mistakes I’ve seem with some Rain Barrel designs is to drill a hole in the side of the plastic barrel for the overflow. This can reduce the amount of rainwater your rain barrel can store by up to 10%. To take advantage of all of the storage space inside your rain barrels drill the hole on the top of the plastic barrel. Just make sure the height of the overflow is below the height of the inlet.
The Outlet
The same applies to the spigot or outlet as well. Don’t fit it to the side of the plastic barrel. Fit it to the bottom so once again you can take advantage of all the water storage space inside your rain barrel. This also makes it easier to clean out the bottom of your rain barrel from time to time. Remember, it is possible to keep out larger debris but the water going into your rain barrels will contain small particles of dirt etc. This will accumulate over a period of time and if the spigots fitted to the side you make find that you’ll end up with a layer of mud in the bottom of the rain barrel several inches thick.
Water Level Indicator
It’s also really easy to add a water level indicator to the side of your rain barrels as well.
In Summary
The Inlet
Just to finish, one of the most important parts of my rain barrel design is the inlet. When fitting the inlet make sure it’s above the overflow, so when the rain barrel is full the water flows out via the overflow (as it should) instead of the inlet.
This is the reason why a lot of rain barrel designs fit the overflow to the side of the rain barrel. It’s to keep it below the inlet which is level with the top of the rain barrel. The problem with this design though is it’s lessens the amount of water that can be stored.
I’ve managed to overcome this problem though by sealing the inlet and the use of a downspout diverter I’ve designed to overcome some common problems that some of the downspout diverters on the market have.
As a consequence of designing my downspout diverter (so as to have a sealed inlet) I was also able to make it very small and compact. In fact it’s so small and compact that it’s now fully contained within the downspout and it is now possible the harvest rainwater from a downspout without any outward signs of a downspout diverter even being fitted. This is great for aesthetics as some downspout diverters aren’t the most attractive items to have mounted on the side of your home.
The other great thing about my downspout diverter is that it’s really easy and inexpensive to make. So if you’d like to have a go at making your own rain barrels that harvest and store lots of rainwater then why not download my FREE eBook How to Make a Rain Barrel.
Thanks for the book. Just finished my new rain barrels and now I’m waiting for it to rain
Thanks, great info, couldn’t believe how simple it is
Yes I have started my rain barrel project. I’ve connected my 3 rain barrels together as shown in the video but it seems as the first rain barrel filled it started back up the inlet and exited there instead of overflowing through the elbows connecting one rain barrel to the next. What have I done wrong?
If there’s one thing that water understands, it’s the law of gravity. It will always flow to the lowest point or level unless it is stopped for some reason. Is there an airlock in the second and third rain barrels? The air should be able to exit through the overflow. What sort of downspout diverter are you using? The the size of the connection between the rain barrels should be equal to or greater than the size of the inlet from the downspout diverter. Also this connection (between the rain barrels) should also be lower than the inlet and overflow. Draw a side on diagram of your set up and imagine the flow of water through it remembering that it must flow unobstructed and will always flow to the lowest point first. Please let me know how you go.
Thank you, thank you!! I had the overflow at the same height as the connection between the barrels. My set up is a tiny bit different from yours so I had another problem that I to address there as well. I made the corrections and waited on the next rain. We just got more rain and a lot of it on Saturday. All 3 barrels are filled to the brim. I’ve got 4 more to connect up so it’s time to get busy! This has been a project waiting in the wings for 6 years. Yeah, I’ve had these barrels that long. lol Thank you so much for putting your video and information out there.
That’s good news. Once you get your set up sorted out you can then add as many rain barrels as you like. Happy Rainwater Harvesting.