PROJECT 19

RAIN BARREL

Finished rain barrel

Water is the second most important resource to sustaining human life. Without a steady supply of clean water, a person would die in a matter of days. For this reason I think it is important to be able to provide some measure of personal drinking water.

For ecological (and economical) reasons, I like to collect rain water—and while I don’t normally drink this collected water, it does do a good job of watering my garden.

This project is one of the easiest ways to turn a 55-gallon plastic drum into a rain catchment system. It is much easier than climbing into the bottom of a drum to attach a faucet, and it works with closed top drums that are easier to find.

Materials:

•   Surplus plastic 55-gallon drum that held coconut oil—use a food grade barrel. A new potable water barrel will cost several times more than a food grade surplus drum, and will not make the water “potable” since the roof, gutter, and other parts are not certified food grade.

•   ½-inch long ¾-inch pipe nipple

•   90 degree elbow

•   6-inch long ¾ pipe nipple

•   ¾ drain

•   ¾-inch coupler

•   Teflon tape

•   Tools

•   Drill with a ¾ bit

Procedure

1.     Clean drum to remove any prior contents.

2.     Use Teflon tape on all connections for a watertight seal.

3.     Screw ½ nipple and 6-inch nipple into the 90 degree elbow.

4.     Screw coupler on free end of the 6-inch pipe nipple.

5.     Drill a ¾-inch hole in the center of the bung.

6.     Screw ½ nipple into bung, tighten, but ensure that the pipe extends perpendicular to an imaginary centerline extending through the bung and along the radius of the barrel.

7.     With the bung facing up, screw the drain into the coupler until it is tight and the open end of the couple is also facing up.

8.     Take the drum outside, flip over and support with blocks or other stand so that the drain is facing down and the barrel is level.

9.     Drill a hole as close in diameter to the water collection system hose as possible in the top of the barrel as it sits on site. Make sure the hose coming from your water collector will reach your hole. For aesthetic purposes I try to make this hole as close to the gutter as possible

10.   Insert drain hose into hole.

Finished valve

Diverter installed on gutter

If using a gutter diverter like the one I used, it will have instructions for how to cut your existing gutter system and install it. You do not have to use the model I did, as there are several on the market.

Hose from diverter into barrel

I try to keep the inlet hole as small as possible to keep mosquitos from being able to lay eggs in the water barrel. (If the water is for non-potable uses like watering gardens, you may want to add some mosquito fish to the barrel. If you do this you will be amazed at how few mosquitos you will have around the house after a few cycles of the tiny fish eating all the mosquito larva.)

Lesson Learned:

Any water discussion can lead to a discussion about the difference between a want and a need as well as what is (and is not) important in life.

This is also a good way to introduce the use of power tools, as the measurements are not critical, and there are only a few holes to be drilled.