There was some recent discussion about rain barrels so I thought I'd post the
barrels I just finished off. Biggest question for me was how do I attach the
spigot? Bulkhead fittings were suggested but my barrels have a screw-in
bung that have a 3/4" garden hose thread. I drilled through the bung making
sure I preserved the threads. I took the bung to Lowes and bought some
CPVC fittings. I would have used PVC but for some reason the 3/4" PVC pipe
would not fit into the PVC fittings.
The bung was screwed back in, the barrel flipped over and set on a stack of
cinder blocks. To prevent mosqitoes from laying eggs in the barrel and to
keep the barrel debris free from the downspout, I took two leftover, plastic
flower pots that nested together. While nested, I drilled 3/4" holes in the
sides of the pot. I then separated the pots, laid some window screen
between the pots and then pressed the pots together. Hopefully water
drains through but mosquitoes, twigs, and leaves do not.
I traced the outline of the pot onto the top of the barrel and cut inside the
line with a jigsaw. Finally, I shortened my downspout, attached a flexible
diverter, and done! I do still need to come up with an overflow plan but
the rain used to drain where those barrels are now so maybe I won't bother.
We had some pretty decent rain last night and my first barrel is already full.
We're supposed to get more rain tonight so I'm expecting this new barrel to
also be full by morning. 110 gallons of water saved.
I suppose you could argue that the cost of construction, etc, doesn't
really justify the savings you'd have if you just used the city water but I do
feel better about not wasting this free resource and I had fun doing it.
I bought the barrels on Craigslist for $40 each. They used to hold Mountain
Dew and there was still about a cup of syrup in each of them. I didn't drink
it. The spigot parts were less than $10 total. The diverter was $2 and the
blocks were about $5.50 for 4.
Paul
barrels I just finished off. Biggest question for me was how do I attach the
spigot? Bulkhead fittings were suggested but my barrels have a screw-in
bung that have a 3/4" garden hose thread. I drilled through the bung making
sure I preserved the threads. I took the bung to Lowes and bought some
CPVC fittings. I would have used PVC but for some reason the 3/4" PVC pipe
would not fit into the PVC fittings.
The bung was screwed back in, the barrel flipped over and set on a stack of
cinder blocks. To prevent mosqitoes from laying eggs in the barrel and to
keep the barrel debris free from the downspout, I took two leftover, plastic
flower pots that nested together. While nested, I drilled 3/4" holes in the
sides of the pot. I then separated the pots, laid some window screen
between the pots and then pressed the pots together. Hopefully water
drains through but mosquitoes, twigs, and leaves do not.
I traced the outline of the pot onto the top of the barrel and cut inside the
line with a jigsaw. Finally, I shortened my downspout, attached a flexible
diverter, and done! I do still need to come up with an overflow plan but
the rain used to drain where those barrels are now so maybe I won't bother.
We had some pretty decent rain last night and my first barrel is already full.
We're supposed to get more rain tonight so I'm expecting this new barrel to
also be full by morning. 110 gallons of water saved.
I suppose you could argue that the cost of construction, etc, doesn't
really justify the savings you'd have if you just used the city water but I do
feel better about not wasting this free resource and I had fun doing it.
I bought the barrels on Craigslist for $40 each. They used to hold Mountain
Dew and there was still about a cup of syrup in each of them. I didn't drink
it. The spigot parts were less than $10 total. The diverter was $2 and the
blocks were about $5.50 for 4.
Paul
Comment