Rain Barrel Workshop

Robert E. Harvey from Forest, VA wanted to know if I could make him a water barrel to replace his “60 year old concrete water collection box which is now leaking.” Here is an image of the new spring water barrel and the natural spring with Robert’s words:

Here’s the rain barrel that has replaced the 60+ year old water box at the farm. I still have to replace some of the old iron pipe, but it is functioning quite nicely.

Here’s a photo of the spring. It’s on a hillside about 3/4 of a mile away from the farm house and the water is gravity fed.

Robert would also like a replacement top for the springs collection chamber, he is currently using a tin that blows off. Making a nice concrete top with a handle would work to keep the the top on, the critters and debris out. Thanks for the great pictures, fun project! -Aaron

Mike in Mendota Heights, MN wrote:

This picture is of the rain barrel my wife and I put at the top of a rock wall. About 20 shrubs and a small vegetable garden are watered from the barrel. Putting it on the top allows gravity to work in our favor. We rerouted a downspout from the roof to put more water in the barrel. That also helped a drainage issue in the backyard.

We put another barrel in front of the house to collect the discharge from a sump pump. More free water. We are big fans.

Thanks,
Mike

The Lynch Family from Bulverde, TX bought several barrels to be connected together. They were very specific as to how they wanted them configured to be hidden under their deck, here is what Bob Lynch requested:

In this configuration, I would like the barrels to connect to the left as you face the front where the water spigot is located. The first barrel will have the opening at the top for the gutter downspout and it will connect to the second barrel to the left. The second barrel will connect to the third barrel, again to the left. The only barrel with an overflow (1 ½”) will be the third barrel, and it will overflow to the left.

The pair I ordered a few weeks ago worked great. I have them on a level platform of concrete blocks under my deck. I could not believe how they filled to the brim and overflowed with less than an inch of rain! This new set will go under the other end of my deck.

As you can see from under the porch there was ample room for the rain barrels to fit on top of concrete blocks. The only change I made to the configuration was that I connected each rain barrel together down low with PVC. The barrels will fill and empty at the same rate. This configuration should add more pressure to the flow from the spigots. Nice work Lynch Family and thank you for putting your trust in me! -Aaron