Do-It-Yourself Rain Barrels

Adapting the Down-Spout

Gardening season is around the corner. So are high water utility bills, if you're not careful. With a bit of craft, a few tools, and some perseverance, it's possible to construct your own rain harvesting containers. Ideally I'd have purchased wine barrels from somewhere, but this wasn't feasible due to time and price constraints I placed on this endeavour. I'd read various tutorials and seen various videos around the web, and got some advice from one of the guys at Rona who'd made his own rain barrels, and came up with my own system which suited my needs.

I set out to construct two rain barrels. They are fitted with intake and overflow holes, a spigot which fits a standard garden-hose, and are designed in such a way that I can add more as needed.

The easiest part was assembling the barrels; three cuts, fit the spigot, apply water sealant, and they're done.

The First Intake

The hardest parts were twofold: locating the appropriate materials, and finding something which would fit the drainpipe coming from the roof gutters. I bought the garbage cans and spigots at Canadian Tire, the hose at Home Depot, and the drainpipe fittings at Rona.

In retrospect, I should have done all my shopping at Rona, if only for the reason that most (84%, according to them) of their wares come from Canadian suppliers (whether they're actually constructed in Canada is another matter, however...)

But I digress.

Materials

The First Overflow to the Second Intake

First, the bill of materials. This is per-barrel, but you only need enough hose as to get your water-flow from the drainpipe to your first barrel's intake, from each barrel to the next (if you're building more than one barrel), and from the last barrel's overflow to your run-off point.

• one "barrel" - I used (roughly) 100L Rubbermaid Roughneck garbage can. ($20)
• 25' of 1-1/2" ribbed plastic hose - I used sump-pump hose ($15)
• a 3/4" spigot - I used brass; it will be submerged in water most of the time, and brass doesn't rust ($8)
• a nut to thread the spigot from inside the barrel - again, I used brass. ($2 each -- they came in a pack of two for $4)
• a rubber pipe adapter - I used a 3"-to-2" adapter, and closed it tightly around the first barrel's round intake and the gutter's square down-spout. ($10. though you only need one of these, unless you have more than one down-spout you want to divert).



The Second Overflow

• supports - I had a big-ass stone in my yard which would form one support, and a pile of flagstones I used for another support. ($0)

In total, per-barrel, the cost is $45, plus the down-spout adapter (one-time fee of $10). I did want to use brass washers (this would have required two per barrel) to provide added support for the spigot, but neither Canadian Tire, Rona nor Home Depot carried 3/4" brass washers, so I did without. While not necessary, they (along with the silicon caulking) would have formed a better sort of flange than the caulking by itself.

Tools

Leading Off the Overflow Pipe

The tools I had to buy were few, since I already had a drill and various other standard tools (disassembling the down-spout required a Robertson screwdriver, the pipe adapter required a flat-head screwdriver to tighten, pliers were necessary to secure the plastic hose into the intake and overflow holes). I had to buy:

• a caulking gun ($6)
• caulking caps ($4, came with two in the package)
• clear silicon caulking ($4)
• a 1-3/4" hole-saw ($6)
• a 3/4" spade drill bit ($8)

In total, I spent around $30 for tools.

Assembly

The assembly process is simple:

The First Barrel's Spigot

1. Using the hole-saw, cut one hole on either side of the barrel near the top. The Roughnecks I bought had flat sides underneath the handles, so I made the cuts there. These will form the intake and overflow holes.
2. Using the spade drill-bit, cut one hole on the side of the barrel near the bottom (positioned evenly between the intake and overflow holes). This will be used for the spigot.
3. Fit the spigot through the bottom-hole, and while twisting it into place, squeeze a bit of caulking over its thread. This will form a sealed bond as it goes into the barrel.
4. Place more caulking around the spigot on the inside of the barrel, and spread it around the thread, forming a seal. (Note: caulking is messy, nasty stuff. Your hands should be protected when using it, and you should be working in a well-ventilated area. Acetic acid is not good for you.)
5. Thread the nut on the inside of the barrel. It should be at least finger-tight.
6. To both sides of the spigot, apply enough caulking that you're satisfied that a decent waterproof seal will form.
7. Let the caulking dry according to the directions on its packaging. Mine asked for 12 hours; I let it sit overnight.
8. Test the water-seal. Fill each barrel up with enough water to test that there is no leakage coming from the spigot, and that the spigots themselves are working enough to your satisfaction.
9. Rinse each barrel out well.

You're done!

The Second Barrel's Spigot

Installation

1. Set up one support per barrel nearby your down-spout.
2. Detach the down-spout at an appropriate height which is higher than the intake hole of your barrel.
3. Connect the large end of the rubber pipe adapter to the down-spout, and tighten.
4. Connect the small end of the rubber pipe adapter to the intake plastic hose, and tighten.
5. Cut the hose to a length such that it will reach the first barrel intake hole.
6. Fit the hose into the intake hole.
7. (optional) Cut hose for each additional barrel, and connect the overflow hole of each barrel to the intake hole of the barrel to follow it in the series.
8. Connect the remaining hose to the overflow hole of the last barrel, straighten it out, and place its end where you want run-off to lead.
9. (optional) Seal the inside and outside of each intake and overflow hole with more silicon caulking. I didn't do this for my own rainwater harvesting system, but I very well may before it's too late. :-)

You're done!

The Rainwater Harvesting System

Various Notes

• Your mileage will vary. Each down-spout will be different, and you will likely need to think of a suitable solution for your own situation. Consult with the kindly folks at your local neighbourhood hardware store. They are a resource; use them!
• Use dark containers. Light containers are more likely to let in sunlight, which can cause algae to form inside your barrels.
• Use containers whose lids seal well when closed. Mosquitoes breed in stagnant water, and unless you don't mind an army of the little bastards swarming you and feasting on you in a blood-orgy, make sure the barrel lids are on tight.
• Consider mass. Water has a mass of 1kg per litre; the barrels above will have a mass of almost 100kg when full. Since you must raise your barrels up (before they fill up!), make sure their supports will actually support them. Milk crates are bad, bricks and stones are good.
• Consider fitting a filter before the first intake. Twigs, bugs, leaves, and dead rotten squirrels don't make for good things to have in your water supply. A simple piece of screen that you'd use on a screen door would suffice to filter the nasty stuff out, and is easy enough to clean/replace.

I hope you enjoyed my little treatise; I'd like to hear any comments folks have on the subject.