How to Build a Rain Barrel

What Is a Rain Barrel

A rain barrel is a fairly simple concept. It’s a rain catcher and collector. At most homes rain falls onto the roof, into the gutters, through the downspout and into stormdrains on the street. That’s a pretty big waste of perfectly good water.

Think of it this way; if you leave the water on the whole time you brush your teeth, you can waste three gallons of water. Now imagine how much water comes down during a heavy rainfall -- a lot more than three gallons. Typically, the average rain barrel can save one household around 1,300 gallons of water in a three month period. That is a lot of teeth brushing.

If you pay for your own water, each drop will cost you money. Every time you water the grass, take a shower, get a drink, or wash dishes you’re paying for it -- using a rain barrel can help lower the costs. To learn more about water conservation, take a look at conservation article.

What Can Rainwater Be Used For

Obviously you aren’t going to brush your teeth with it, but rainwater can be used for a variety of around the home tasks. It can even be used for drinking water if it’s treated properly.

Home uses for rainwater include:

• Flushing toilets
• Watering your grass, garden, and indoor houseplants
• Washing laundry
• Washing your car
• Baths and showers
• Watering down the outside of your house (get all that dirt off)
• And more

Each time you use rainwater to water your lawn it means you are not turning on the hose, which saves you money. It’s a great way to create a unique energy efficient home.

Rainwater use also helps the environment -- not just your home and wallet. Using rainwater naturally puts a renewable resource to double use. Water pollution is cut down when you use a rain barrel because it stops all the stormwater runoffs which carry bad pollution like oil, bacteria, grease, and trash to the main water sources.

Once you are aware of all the ways in which rainwater can be used, learning how to build a rain barrel becomes a pretty useful project.

How to Build a Rain Barrel

There are some different ways to provide a rain barrel at your home. You can buy a barrel, make your own barrel, or create a make-shift barrel.

Buy One

There is a handy visual guide from Clean Air Gardening that can show you different styles of rain barrels to buy. From rustic to new, they come in all styles.

Another good site to visit is Duluth Streams, where there are links to shops that sell rain barrels and cool pictures, including one of the biggest home rain barrels ever.

The Make-Shift Rain Barrel

You can just place barrels or containers in an area of your yard. Rain water can be collected in just about anything that can hold water, but it’s not the best way to save water. Plain old buckets are non-spouted and heavy -- but it’s not a bad plan if you just want to dump the water onto a lawn. However, the huge downside to this method is safety. Small children can drown in mere inches of water, which is why this method is not recommended.

Build an Actual Rain Barrel

First, you need supplies. There are various instructions available, but the main idea is the same across the board.

Each varying instruction manual comes with a separate list of supplies, but the general supplies you’ll need to think about include:

• One 55 gallon barrel, however, you can really use any size in plastic, wood, or other material (never use a barrel that contained hazardous materials)
• One drill; electric is best
• A tool that can cut; jigsaw, router, coping saw, or other similar tool
• Garden hose (you’ll only need a section of it)
• Sump pump hose
• Pipe adaptors and couplings
• Plumbers tape / PVC glue
• Hose clamp
• Plastic colander
• Shutoff valve with male and female threaded ends
• Pieces of common window screen
• Cinder blocks for the platform

Find Great Instructions

Without step by step diagrams, understanding how to build a rain barrel is going to be tough.

The best set of instructions may well be the Student BaySavers Rain Barrel Project. It also gives a full materials list with estimated costs. Typically, it should never cost a lot to make a rain barrel -- if costs, not including tools, exceed $100 or so, you probably have the wrong set of instructions.

Maryland Environmental Design offers a simple set; not as good as the BaySavers project but simple to work through.

One last good set of instructions can be found at the Clean Virginia Waterway project website.

If you want to have some fun with your rain barrel, visit this cool wall of rain page from the University of Florida to see amazingly neat rain barrels painted in various colors and designs. You can do it too.