Build a Water Barrel

We make a lot of things ourselves, mostly because we are rather thrifty (that sounds nicer than "we're cheap"), and I often have friends ask how we did it. So I'll try to explain some of our little Do It Yourself projects. And here's the first one!

Here in Georgia, we've been in a big drought, although so far this year has not been as bad. Last summer we could not water at all, but the restrictions have been eased a bit so we have 25 minutes three days/week that we may water by hand between the hours of 4am - 9am. With all those limitations, we seriously wanted something to do to help our plants survive, and we always want to conserve whenever possible. So, water barrels to the rescue! But they are expensive, so we made one ourselves! In fact, Ken made one last year for free by signing up for a class through our county water system! We plan to make enough for all our downspouts, and it's really very easy.

Here's our first (and much-used!) water barrel:Want to make your own? Here's what you'll need (everything except the barrel should be easy to find at your local Ace Hardware or Home Depot, etc):

• A 55-gallon food-grade drum (barrel). "Food-grade" is so that it doesn't put chemicals back into the ground. They usually run about $18 or so per barrel. In our area, we can get them at a place called "Advanced Drum". (Ours smells like Mellow Yellow because it held the syrup to make it!)
• 6-inch round grate plastic drain cover
• Nylon mesh screen (it comes in a roll)
• 24-inch zip ties (the kind used for HVAC)
• 1/2-inch plastic faucet
• 3/4-inch flat steel washer
• #12 O-ring
• PVC schedule 40 - 90 elbow
• plastic extension for gutter downspout.
  
  And here's what to do:

1. Cut opening in top of barrel the size of the drain cover.
2. Cut piece of mesh slightly larger than drain cover.
3. Secure mesh screen to drain cover with zip tie.
4. Insert drain cover into opening on top of barrel.
5. Drill hole for faucet about 6-inches above the bottom of barrel.
6. Put steel washer over faucet threads and slide o-ring over faucet threads (to make sure it doesn't leak).
7. Place faucet in hole and screw the plastic elbow into assembly from inside of the barrel (that's the hard part unless you have really long arms!). Once you've done that, you're done with the actual rain barrel... now let's hook it up!
8. Cut gutter downspout to just above the rain barrel.
9. Attach downspout flex elbow to gutter
10. Slide barrel under spout, making sure to line up mesh screen opening with the opening of the spout. You are now ready to conserve water and save money with your homemade rain barrel! We usually just fill up our watering can with it, but you can also hook up a hose, especially if your rain barrel is uphill from where you'll be watering.

Keep in mind that it is best not to water plants you will eat with water that comes off of your roof because of chemicals in the shingles. You can water all non-edible plants this way, though, and could always make one that's completely open on top to collect rain water right out by your veggie garden. Just remember to cover it with mesh so you don't create a mosquito factory!

You can also paint your rain barrel with Krylon plastic paint. I love the real oak barrels and would love to have those in the front of the house because the are prettier, so I plan to try making these plastic ones look more like that.