My husband bought me a rain barrel from Kentucky barrels last year. They are the kind of barrels used to hold whiskey and wine. Oak, I think. Very pretty and not such an eye sore as the plastic barrels can be. They sell for about $125 plus shipping. I Love mine and will buy 2 more. I've got lots of gutters! C

This is such great information! Thanks so much! I am going to try to find at least 2 barrels per downspout. That means 8 barrels.

Can anyone give more specific directions, such as a street address and name of business, for places to buy pickle barrels or other large plastic barrels in the Raleigh area? The Raleigh Public Works Dept. is all out of rain barrels and doesn't know when new ones will arrive. Local nurseries are selling barrels for $100 and up. I'd like to give nurseries some business, but $100 is a lot to spend on something you could make for $20-30 if you can find a source for barrels.

Great Info on Rainbarrels everyone!! I am putting on my gutters on my new house this spring and I'm going to plan on 4 barrels in the design. Thanks to everyone for the "do it yourself" tips on making them. I'm most likely going to take that route with mine.

I'm in Summerfield and looking for rain barrels if anyone knows where to get them. I like the pickle barrels from Raleigh, but that's 2 hours from me...

Thanks.

L

Question for you folks: is there any certain length of time that the water should be used and replaced? Naturally it would depend on the rainmakers, but would it matter if the barrel stayed full for a month or so before being used?

What are the dimensions on the 55-gallon barrels?

Height in particular.

The black olive/pickle barrel footprint is about 24 inches and the height is about 42 inches. I have two white ones and they are shorter at about 34 inches.

there was some variance in the pickle barrels- when i got mine from the peace street location they had about 30 there and i'd say there was a 1' spread between heights, and about a 6" difference in widths (some taller & skinnier, some fatter and shorter). they were all black.

Thanks!

I've been thinking about putting a small array of 3-4 barrels under our kitchen bay window behind my wife's butterfly bush all winter.

I'd love to be able to put a large cistern in our yard, but it's just not an option now because of cost. If the barrels work out, maybe I'll put together a larger array under our screened-in porch. I bet I could get 10+ barrels under there tied together.

I was able to pick up several barrels Saturday fixed up and all ready to collect water. Kind of thought myself lucky since everyone seems to be running out of the just "plain" barrels.

I just scored a 55- gal. barrel at the local Habitat Re-Store over the weekend for $20!!! :)

My hubby brought home half a dozen barrels the other day. He is fitting them with spigots and trying to figure out how to tandem some of them. Meanwhile, I have 3 almost-full 55 gallon barrels! Love it!

Sally

Since I started this thread on rainbarrels, I have received much information. Would like to share it for what it is worth.

1. When connecting barrels, if you connect the top of barrel A to the bottom of barrel B the water will always stay equal in each barrel instead of one being empty. The hose used between A and B can be 10 or more feet long to give you another 20ft of run. At the end of B use a hose that is another 10-15 to add more of a run. This is particularly helpful for a garden in the back of your yard. Also saves having to carry such a distance. Always place A highter than B and B higher than C (if you have 3 on a run) etc. This gives you the gravity you need. I'm told that you can add a small pond pump inside the barrel to give added presure but I'm not sure just how that works. (let me know if anyone figures that out)

Second thing, when the barrel gets full, the water going into a barrel can only go in at the rate it is going out the overflow hose. Therefore, it is suggested you use a sump pump hose (which is larger in size but uses the same size fitting) as your overflow hose. Placing small holes in this hose (only once you get away from the house) can dispurse the water along the way, rather than having it all dump out the end of the hose. The idea is to keep the top of the barrel from overflowing and to get the water away from the foundation of the house. I read that a 1000 SQ FT roof with 1 inch of rain produces 640 gallons of water. That is not a huge roofline but that is a lot of water.
Hope this helps someone, somewhere. Let me know if there are questions.

Good info ncgardner. Also, the guy I got my barrels from said I could attach a 25' hose from the spigot of A to the spigot of B barrel (need a male-female converter for B) and that will keep both barrels the same level...and as you say give you the ability to position the other barrel closer to your plants so you don't have to carry any water.

Good idea abou the larger sump pump hose as your overflow hose. May not have thought of that.

When connenting to top of Barrel A to the bottom of Barrel B, you attach your watering hose to the spigot of barrell A. Therefore you are using the oldest water first and keeping equal amounts of water in each barrel. The refill of rain will first run into barrel A.

FYI
The Sanford man is now charging $40.for the barrels. They were $30. I'm not sure what the City of Raleigh will now charge for them. Supply and demand.

Yeah, Sanford is where I got mine too. Not a bad price with everything done and all you have to is set it up. Does HD have these "sump pump" hoses? I expect it's a 5/8" connection, correct?

Wonderful info here on rain barrels! Thank you! I Think I will be taking a drive down auburn knightdale rd tomorrow.
~Teresa

What is the advantage of having a "B" barrel near your plants if you're already running a 24' hose there anyway? You could just water using the hose instead, right?

Maybe I'm missing something.

Also missing something with the "connect top of A to bottom of B" stuff too. Why don't you just connect the bottom of each barrel to each other? The water will stay level that way as well and it's simpler. Then you just attach your spigot to the connecting hose and you draw from both barrels at the same time. You can do this with 2, 3, or 10 barrels if you want.

Like I said, I may just be missing something in how I'm reading the posts.

mrsig - that's what I've done. I ran a short hose from the spigot of A to the spigot of B (with a female quick connect), and it will self-level.

The "B" near your plants may be for convenience, and/or maybe where they want to water plants may be uphill from there and is not convenient for gravity-flow...who knows. My $.02

Anyone get their barrels filled up last night?!? Haven't been able to check mine yet, but I assume now it's closer to the top then it was yesterday...near the bottom.

I called Meck. Co. about a rain barrel and they said their next order would be in April. It then occurred to me, that I have a client who cleans and resells containers. I called him and was able to get a 220 gallon container for $160. This includes an adapter that reduces the the drain for a hose to attach. The container filled yesterday in 1 good rain.

jimtnc - Thanks for the explanation, I'm glad I'm not the only one confused by some of those posts.

We had a lot of rain here in Columbia, but my rain gauge must be busted because it didn't register anything as I looked out my car window this morning. Oh well.

Anyway, my three 55 gal barrels are showing at about half full this morning. They had previously been empty. So it must've been a pretty good rain...

Mine are full (again) Now I need to tandem them so I have more room...

Sally

We had 0.2" of rain at my house during the day on Tuesday, and that nearly filled up one of my barrels and half-filled the other barrel. Both were empty before then because I just built and installed them last weekend. During the night, we had much more rain, so I assume the barrels are full but didn't have time to check them this morning before work.

if you have gutters running into them, it only takes 1/4" to fill rain barrels. i read somewhere an average roof has something like 650 gallons of water from 1" of rain. unfortunately, we only got 1/2"here in garner instead of the 2" that RDU got. i watched the storms go around us on the radar, and hollered at the comp in frustration.

Keep your fingers crossed, tamelask. We're supposed to have another come through Friday evening that maybe Garner can squeeze out a little more than we got the other night. Pitiful!! Of course, I don't have anywhere to put it...my barrels are full. Might have to take a short trip for a couple more.

Anyone know or have an idea how to cover up those 60-65gl pickle barrels on top? My overflow isn't working as well as it should and water is sitting to the very top of the barrel above the screen and overflow. I was able to adjust the ovfl hose a bit where it drained some more, but it's no to my liking right now.

My rain barrels are only getting a very small corner of my roof (basically an eve on the corner of the house - probably about 10 total feet of gutter), yet a full inch of rain will fill all three 55 gallon barrels. It's really an awesome thing.

I have my eye on this huge plastic reservoir looking thingy down in the undeveloped section of my neighborhood. The thing is massive, probably 300 gallons at least. I've been meaning to track down the contractor for that section and ask him what it was used for and if he wants to part with it. My wife would go into shock if I put that on the back corner of the house though. :D

How can I get in touch with the barrel guy in Sanford? I would like 4 barrels. Email, phone number and/or location would be appreciated!

I love reading about collecting rain! Im actually pretty new to it, my buddy gave me a 125 gallon tank a few weeks ago and I made a water diverter for about 5 bucks! What a great deal! I made the diverter from a small bucket, and two 1" diameter fittings. I will post a few pics this weekend. It was so easy to do, there is no need to spend $25 for a diverter online.

Im going to install a huge 1000 gallon tank in my apple orchard to water my apple trees too!

Think rain!

Chuck, how much do you think you will price the 330 gallon totes at? We may very well be interested. thanks, tammy

Just a tip for those with rain barrels, a $5-10 dollar water timer is great if you're like me and occasionally forget to turn the spigot off when you're running a hose to planting beds. :-)

I wasted 3 full 55 gallon barrels twice this year before I decided enough was enough and just bought a timer.

I've been foiled at every attempt to procure even one barrel this spring to put together my own rain barrel(s). And the prices online have gone up substantially, plus the substantial shipping charges. Anyone know of a barrel source in Rockingham County, specifically near Madison/Mayodan? These things are getting as rare as rain! I'm up for making my own or buying premade for a reasonable price. Feeling a little stunned after seeing wine-keg rain barrels for $150 at a local hardware store.

gbirds - Call Chuck and get yourself on his list. His post is just above yours. I got mine there also. Very adequate, but if you're looking for designer barrels...you'll pay the $150 or so.

Jim, where'd you find his #? I emailed him about the large storage thing, and he hasn't gotten back to me.

Hold on Tammy, I'll try and find it. Okay, I found it. He'll probably get mad at me for this (not real good internet policy), but...
Chuck Rice (919) 770-6398

Thanks, Jim. Next time, maybe you could email it directly to who asked for it, unless of course you have permission. I'll call him a bit later.

Another place to try are the local car washes. The barrels need to be rinsed out, but they normally let them go for 20 bucks or so.

Found a very reasonable supplier in Hickory. Please email if interested.

Say joeyoso - how big are those carwash barrels? What town are we talking about where they're located?

Still hounding carwashes but haven't gotten the timing right. I'm as patient as I am cheap, though. I'll get one yet!

I called the Guilford County Extension and they're selling them for $100, which I think is too much for a pickle barrel with a spigot. The Extension does hold occasional classes to make barrels, but then you only pay $50 to keep the barrel you make. So it's at least a $50 markup for a premade one. Gonna try to sign up for a class, in any event. $50 is more like it.

I know it's a supply/demand/whatever-the-market-will-bear thing, but it seems that a partly govt-funded agency could sell rain barrels to taxpayers at a more affordable price. Raleigh's are less expensive, but then again, Raleigh seems to be the NC hub of all things rain barrel.

gbirds - A month or so ago they were selling different sized barrels (so I heard here) at one of the Raleigh Gov't places for $15-20 with no hardware, but you're right...that kind of price is akin to what they do with the tax laws around here. I think the last price I payed for the all set up pickle barrel was $40 a month ago. That may have changed, but I don't think the guy would stick you.

Just keep looking. This craze will slow as soon as everyone has one and the price will drop.

Thanks Jim. I was pretty floored at the $100 price tag at the extension. A price like that isn't much encouragement for the average person to conserve water, especially with the economy as it is. (But then, I had just sent off a big check to The Man for my self-employment taxes right before I called the extension, which didn't help my attitude toward govt-funded agencies!) I'm sure I'll be able to wrangle a barrel this season without driving 2 hours to Raleigh, just need to be persistent.

Jim

Im in VA, but I think just about every town has a local car wash. They get their chemicals in them and they are usually 50-55 gallons. I have talked to the guys up here and they usually let them go for 20 bucks or so. Just depends.

I went to www.tank-depot.com and ordered a thousand gallon tank for my apple orchard in WVA. It was too easy, but I suppose its based on how much you are willing to spend, and what the cost of convenience is worth to you.

www.Craigslist.com is a great resource also.

Oso

Thanks joeyoso. I'll check out the car wash's around here, but I'm sure quite a few have been there before me. :)

Darn..I finally found some well made rain barrels but realize that their being black is not going to work for my location in the full sun.
Or will it?

I suppose I can draw off the water and wait until it cools to air temperature to use it. On the flip(season) side, black barrels in the full sun in winter should keep the stored water from freezing.

Maybe I will go with this barrel. I just like that the top is concave with a built-in sieve in the center.
The rainwater to fill the barrel comes out of a slit gutter (no downspout).

If anyone is interested, they're at Youngs Garden Center.

I'd be surprised if the sun heated the water up so much that it was harmful to plants, even in black barrels.

You could also just be sure you used the water in the morning hours while the rain barrels are still cool from the night before.

Another option is to screen them somewhat using lattice above and on the sides.

I saw the post about www.tank-depot.com and went to explore. I found this link on their page and it was an interesting read. Ok...so I skimmed most of it but parts contained info I'd been trying to figure out for a while, like this:

Water gains 1 psi of pressure for every 2.31 feet of vertical rise. So for gravity flow through a 1-inch
pipe at 40 psi, the storage tanks would have to be more than 90 feet above the house.

I know not everyone will find it interesting(and some may use it as a sleep-aid) but if it helps some, then 'hooray'!

Happy Friday, all!
Meredith

Here is a link that might be useful: rainwater harvesting

Great resource. Thanks for sharing!

Does anyone in the augusta ga/aiken sc area sell these at a reasonable price?