This summer I finally went out and bought my own rain barrel to install on our house. I’ve been looking for a long time for food grade barrels to make my own but they seem to be increasingly hard to find as the idea of converting them into rain barrels is becoming increasingly popular. I found this Fiskars Rain Barrel (Fiskars 5996 Holden 48-Gallon Rain Harvesting System
The installation was fairly easy and only needed a hacksaw to cut into our gutter downspout and a drill with a paddle bit for making the hole into the rain barrel. The kit fit into a 1 inch cut out on the downspout and then hose was easily attached. The water spigot was simple to put together also. I made sure to add a few concrete blocks (that part cost less than $5 for 4 concrete blocks and 1″ caps) underneath the rain barrel to raise it where I wanted the barrel before installation since that would make it easier to get water out either with a hose or a watering can.
I’ve been very happy with its performance this year and I can’t stress enough how much a rain barrel helps in the garden. I don’t use the water I collect in it for the vegetable garden but I’ve used it just about everywhere else! The only thing that bugs me is that it’s actually $10 cheaper now than when I bought it! (currently $54.95 with free shipping at Amazon.) Isn’t that always how it works?
I have two rain barrels and I love them. Now that we have a new garage, we plan on installing 2 more. I'll show my husband this barrel, the one we bought was $75. This one is a better deal. Question for you, is there a reason why you don't water your vegetable garden with the rain barrel water?
Meemsnyc,
I don't use it on the veggies because I'm paranoid about contaminants. 😉 Birds sit on our roof often and we have asphalt shingles which will leach chemicals into the rain water. It might be perfectly OK to do but I have plenty of other things to water!
My daughter has the exact same one. The price has come down a bit. It is a very pretty barrel I think. Look for the food grade ones at the local newspaper, Habitat, car washes or even auto parts stores. You can never have too many.
We call them "water butts" in the UK, which always sounds slightly risque! I tried to find food grade containers to use here too, but due to popularity they are now more expensive that tailour mades ones. I now have 4 slimline ones, three linked in a chain and one for the greenhouse (I've run the gutters together so it collects from both sides). Invaluable, particualry now that we are on a water meter!
It is great to hear the water barrels worked for you. I am building up a garden from the ground up (excuse the pun) and I am keeping an eye out for two reliable water barrels. This past fall was considerably dry so I want to save as much water (keeping up with my goal of sustainability). I am glad to see that it worked well for you. Awesome blog, I will continue to read!