Shawn sets out to make his own rain barrels

One of the hottest items this year in the Triangle is – you guessed it – rain barrels. Not long ago, very few people knew what one looked like or cared. I’ve wanted one for quite a while now, but being a “Green it yourselfer” I had to make my own. If you chose to buy rather than build you’ll find all kinds of shapes, sizes, and colors out there - even collapsible containers that allow for easy portability

The design I chose is based on trash cans, so I bought two 32-gallon cans because they were the cheapest and the most attractive I could find. In hindsight I should have bought the larger 54-gallon ones - not as nice looking, but I’d rather have more water.

Once I had all my parts purchased (see the list), I laid everything out and in the garage. First I drilled the holes in both barrels for the spouts. These need to be located an inch or so from the bottom depending on your barrel type. Then I screwed each spout into the hole, used the plastic cap on the inside to secure it and a good bead of aquarium sealant around the spout on both sides.

The set up for each barrel is a little different. Barrel A receives the downspout. Barrel B is the overflow barrel. Barrel A needs one more hole for the overflow hose, about an inch from the top. Barrel B needs two holes – its own overflow and one to receive the overflow from Barrel A. Same process with the spouts, drill the hole, screw in the pipe and connector, and seal.

With a utility knife I made a 6” hole in the lid of Barrel A. Then I manufactured a screen cover. This is just window screen sandwiched between two plywood circles screwed together.

After a night to dry, I leveled out the ground and placed concrete blocks in a stair step fashion. You need Barrel A slightly higher than Barrel B for water to drain properly. You also want to make sure the barrels are high enough to allow a bucket to fit under the spouts. Once I had the drainage pipe, from barrel A to B, where I wanted it and secured to the top barrel, the system was done.

Luckily, the next day, Raleigh was blessed with a steady rain. In two hours, both barrels had filled to the top! I had expected it to take several days. I think I could have easily filled two more, if not a fifth.

There was a great satisfaction in being able to build these barrels from scratch. It was fun, simple and didn’t take but a few hours each day over the weekend. After all was said and done, the barrels ended up costing me about $80. In comparison, some stores sell 55 gallon barrels for $100. They are attractive and well made. GIY isn’t for everyone, but I enjoyed it and now have water for my plants. If you don’t build one yourself, please buy one, or several. Not only will you have water for you garden if water restrictions continue, but you’ll save money on city water.

If you have questions about what I did above or a suggestion on how I could improve it, please email me at shawn@footprintecomagazine.com.

Parts list:

• Two sturdy trash cans
• Two 3/4” threaded Hose Bibs
• Two ¾” threaded plastic connectors
• Two 1” threaded plastic connectors
• Two 1” threaded plastic caps (I need to get accurate names)
• One ½” threaded hose connector
• One ½” threaded plastic cap
• One 1” plastic tubing (2-3 feet depending on distance between barrels)
• Six concrete blocks (4 for Barrel A and 2 for Barrel B
• Aquarium sealant
• Plywood scraps and wood screws
• Window screen