With water just a twist of a tap away, it's easy to feel complacent while watching news footage of sun parched arid lands. But as we enter into our forth year of drought conditions, with the heat index often in the high nineties, and with fields and lawns now brittle and brown, it's becoming harder and harder to ignore, especially when one is married to a Master Gardener whose life efforts are invested in two acres of gardens. For the past few years, as she furthered her knowledge on ornamental horticulture, native plants , and landscape and garden design at Long Wood Gardens and the New York Botanical Gardens, she's had to reluctantly depend upon me to keep here gardens watered.
A Spouse's Guide to Building the Perfect Rain Barrel System
Given my prior, less then stellar record with plants, I wanted to water aggressively , but was limited by my concern over the farm's well. Unwilling to accept any limitations on my ability to water, I set off to research other sources of water.
- How to Connect a Rain Barrel to a Downspout.
- How to Connect More Than One Rain Barrel.
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- Easy Rain Barrel Setup Steps.
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Overflow and vent pipe on top of every barrel Since the beginning of recorded time, mankind has been using collections systems to gather and store rain water for future use, and while the appearance of the systems has changed, the basic elements that make them up have not. All you need is a wide surface and a piping system to direct the water to the storage device. Trash cans are almost everyone's first choice. Readily available, that can be put into use with a minimal amount of effort or cost.
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However, lacking a proper drain, they can only be emptied by having their owner's bend over and scoop the water out - a task which loses its luster after a few days. Considering a single 55 gallon rain barrel hold only enough water to maintain a four by ten foot garden for, at most a week, manufactured systems are a bit pricey. For gardeners willing to put in a little sweat equity, there is a third path which will allow your to capture and store as much rain water as you want.
A little hard work can go a long way, this method can be very beneficial to you and can help you to really appreciate your break from the heat of the sun. The first thing you need to do is identify a source of food quality 55 gallon barrels. Manufacturers of fruit and soft drink products are an excellent source. And since in most cases the barrels are only allowed to be used once, manufactures are happy to see you cart off as many barrels as you can for free, or at most, at a minimal cost of a few dollars.
Manufacturers have to dispose of barrels as hazardous waste as they are made of plastic, which is costly to them. I however, recommend you look for sealed barrels for three reasons. A word to the wise here I have more then 18 barrels scattered around my house holding gallons of water - and my master gardener wife goes through them in three days just with regular watering of her multiple gardens.
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Whether you have adequate locations for your barrels will affect how many barrels you need. In selecting barrel placement, make sure you take the time to look at the vegetation in the area. The chances are better the even that over the years the area has attracted water loving plants that will not look kindly on having their water supply cut off. If you want to keep those plants, you might want to put in fewer barrels than planned, thereby assuring that they get some runoff.
How To Set Up A Rain Barrel
OK, now let get to building your perfect rain collection and storage system The first thing you need to do is turn the barrels over and using a 1 inch hole saw, or paddle drill bit, cut a single hole in the bottom of each barrel - preferably near the edge. If you can't find a plumber with the 1" pipe tape, if you're local in the upper middle Maryland, middle lower Penna. Next find a high quality paint primer that will stick to plastic, and then paint them the color of your choice in my case, I chose white.
Believe me, while having a ready source of water will make your gardener spouse happy, not having them stick out like a sore thumb and take away from the beauty of their garden will make them even happier, not to mention your neighbors. While you're waiting for the paint to dry, build the stands for the barrels.
A simple two barrel system like the one in the photo to the right only requires two 4x4x8 pressure treated posts and three 2x6x8 pressure boards. If your going to build a four barrel system, use a 2x8 for the horizontal support. A good rule of thumb is to add 2" to the 'width' of the horizontal support for every 2 barrels you add. For example, my eight barrel system uses a 2x12 for its horizontal support with two extra vertical supports in the center.
Make sure your dig far enough down so the ends of the post site on 'solid' ground, and then cement them in. I recommend building your stands first, then 'sinking' them into the ground - that way you can be sure the stand will be level. So if you are building a four barrel system, get four of each of the components listed below]. Once the plumber has cut the 'female' threads into the barrel, coat the threads of the male connecter with silicone, and using your hand, screw it in as tight as you can. Once set, the silicone will form a waterproof seal.
How to set up a rain barrel system at home
Next set the barrel in their place. If you're installing more then one barrel in a given location, connect them all together by cutting your 1" PVC pipe into lengths equivalent to the width of the barrel plus 2 inches. Make sure you use plenty of PVC glue when making the connections - and make sure the full surface area has glue on it by giving the parts a quick twist!
I'm from the old school, and used to always sand the ends of my PVC pipes before gluing them. But today's building code expressly prohibits the practice of sanding the fittings first. The reason is that testing by professional societies and testing institutes has found that the scuffs from sandpaper can actually line up just right and cause a path that the cement cannot fill and be a path for water to leak.
This usually only results when people don't do the proper quarter twist when assembling the parts. For the purposes of rain barrels, it's 'six of one, half a dozen of the other' to say that purple primer is absolutely necessary verses sanding and no primer - but it's always good to use building code practices, and given it doesn't cost you anymore to meet the code, I encourage you to do so!
Where To Put Your Rain Barrel
Cut and install an appropriate length of pipe to allow the valve to protrude a comfortable distance from the bottom of the barrels. Connect the Ball valve to this pipe and then connect the brass hose fittings to the value. If your only hooking up a single barrel, connect the drain pipe and ball valve directly to the threaded male connector attached to the bottom of the barrel.
Since you are connecting two or more barrels, ensure you have sufficient, sturdy, and level space. This is important, especially if you want your barrels to act as a single unit, then they must be level. Connect barrels at the top so the surplus will flow into the second barrel—Install your first barrel under a downspout. Position the second barrel adjacent and connect both holes with the hose provided. Mark with a line. Photo by Carlene Riling. Enclose a plastic bin with stock lumber to make a water-wise garden feature.
How to Build a Rain Barrel. Old-fashioned rain barrels conserve water while supercharging your lawn and garden. Though they're easy to use, it's just as easy to overlook simple tasks that keep rainwater barrels shipshape. Fixes for Rain-barrel Snafus. Five simple ways for homeowners to save water.