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need rain barrel help
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Posted by mamato3 (My Page) on Thu, Jul 31, 08 at 21:45
| SO I just acquired a barrel. I got the holes drilled, and am all ready to go. The important question on my mind, how do I attach a spigot so it doesn't leak? Will silicone around the spigot be enough? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: need rain barrel help
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| This is really not my "department" but I would think caulking would do the trick. When you screw it in maybe you can use that white plumbing tape. Again, these are just suggestions 'cuz I am not a plumber. They should be able to help you at the hardware store. |
RE: need rain barrel help
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| There should be a gasket which goes with the spigot to create a seal. Lorna |
RE: need rain barrel help
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| Hmm. None of the spigots I saw had a seal, and the plumbing guy I talked to had no idea either. I asked about 5 different people at the hardware store, and they all just looked at me like I lost my mind. LOL |
RE: need rain barrel help
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- Posted by zigzag 7b - Triangle, NC (My Page) on
Fri, Aug 1, 08 at 11:02
| Mamato3, if you do a search here on GW I'm sure you'll find lots of instructions. This topic has been explored and detailed extensively on the Gardening in the Carolinas forum. Good luck! |
RE: need rain barrel help
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| Did you go to a big box store? Try one of the local hardware stores. Two good reasons. First, it's likely that the owner (or a member of the family)will be the one helping you and they want you to come back. Second, since you posted this on this forum, it's good to keep your $$$ local. |
RE: need rain barrel help
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| funny enough, I don't know where any little hardware stores are. LOL. I moved to this city about 4 years ago, and I still get lost all the time. Guess I should try the phone book. I only tried lowes and home depot so far. I've looked through some versions I saw online, but all the instructions just confused me since I don;t know the technical names. I guess I'll just look one up, write down all the "terminology" and go to a little hardware store. |
RE: need rain barrel help
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| We just recently installed a rain barrel, the spigot that came with it was a plastic (PVC?) angle valve with male threads that get screwed into the opening. It came with probably 3 feet of Teflon tape and the instructions said to use ALL of the tape on the threads. It seemed like a lot! The opening itself was not threaded (as far as I can remember, I'll try to check) and that is why so much of the tape was required. It did seal up perfectly. Plumbers putty or silicone caulking would work as well, tho I've not had a lot of success with silicone without it looking bad. |
RE: need rain barrel help
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Try looking on the web site for your local Ag Extension Agency .
Doing a search for rain barrels may pull up something .
Searching the Florida site I got 10 hits .
Here is a good one with pictures -
http://sarasota.extension.ufl.edu/Hort/Pubs/Rainbarrel.shtml |
RE: need rain barrel help
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Can I help? I've got rain barrels made from olive barrels - and they don't leak a drop.....and I didn't use any caulking (sorry Maureen). If you want it to look similar to the one below....let me know, and i'll tell ya how to do it. It's so easy, a caveman could do it!
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RE: need rain barrel help
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| This is the guy to help you mamato! You should see the way he built his garden - nice! Much more your dept than mine EG - I will step back. LOL! |
RE: need rain barrel help
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This is a copy/paste of an email I sent to someone else who asked me how I did mine. I am happy to tell you what I went thru here in upstate (Rockland Cty) New York. Attached are 3 pictures. First, I started out with two barrels. If it doesn't rain often, that is not enough. Now with 4 barrels, I am spoiled, and get mad when they are full and I see rainwater running down the overflow tube! I found my "blue" barrels at a party rental place that sold them to me for $25.00 each. Picture #1 shows the flexible elbow that I used off the downspouts. I put gutters on my 10x14' shed, front and back, to get my water. My barrels have the black top that comes off, with a snap ring piece that locks them on. I bought a pool skimmer basket and cut the hole in the top so that the basket just fits in. The lip on the basket keeps it from falling thru. I painted my barrels with Krylon Fusion Satin Pewter Grey spray paint. They say that paint is good for painting plastics. As you can see, the water dumps onto that one barrel and goes thru the skimmer to keep any debris out.
Pic #2 is showing the plumbing. Started with two barrels, connected at the bottom, so that gravity fills them evenly. I used 3/4" fittings, used el's on each barrel bottom. The trick is to use female el's, so that you can use a close nipple to go thru the barrel. I had to cut the nipple a little on each end so that the threaded bushing I used on the inside the barrel would sandwich the barrel. I also put a "Danco #9 Cap Thread Gasket #35551B" on the inside of the barrel (over the nipple), the bushing tightening against it and the barrel and the outside el. Just like a hose washer setup. I tried using a threaded el or straight fitting, but they leaked because they don't have a shoulder. You need to have the actual fitting and the inside bushing with a shoulder on it, otherwise they just pull thru. Don't know if I am making myself clear enough? I put a "T" in the connecting hose and put a clear tube straight up to the top to show the water level in the barrels. It MUST be higher than your overflow otherwise you will create a siphon when the barrel is full. Since two barrels wasn't enough water, I bought two more, connected them just like I did the first two, then put in the fittings as shown to connect the two sets of barrels. I put a shut off between the two sets, but that really isn't neccessary. When the barrels were dry, I put GE Silicone Windown & Door sealant around the outside of the fittings on the outside only. I don't think that was necessary either, but I did it anyway. If you do it, let it dry thoroughly before getting it wet. I don't have hose clamps on anything, and so far, so good, No leaks! You can see the spigot on the first barrel near the bottom. That was put in the same way as the other fittings. The pressure isn't that great, but the water does come out. When I find a pump, all I will have to do is connect the spigot to the pump with hose fittings. You can see how high off the ground my setup is.
For the overflow, I used another on/off spigot that I had. Not necessary, just use another plastic fitting that will connect to whatever drain tube or hose that you are going to use. I ran that white hose in the pic over to my garden and attached it to a piece of PVC that I drilled holes in every 6 inches so that the overflow will water the garden even more. But that PVC must be level, otherwise all the water will only come out the holes in the PVC at the lowest end. I meant to also mention that you need a few "air" holes in the closed top barrel, otherwise the air can't get out to let the water in. I have the pool filter skimmer basket on the first barrel. My second, third, and fourth barrels I can remove the tops without disturbing anything, if I want to stick my watering can in to fill up rather than using the spigot hose. As far as the winters, I would feel better knowing the the barrels were empty and could not possible freeze until I needed them again! As shown in the last pic, my fittings are 3 piece. Barbed hose fitting on the outside with female threads against the barrel, a close nipple going thru the barrel, the washer over the nipple on the inside of the barrel, and a female bushing that has a shoulder on it threaded onto the close nipple. When tightened together, the inside washer makes the seal. I tried just screwing the threads thru the barrel, thought it was tight, but it leaked, so I thought of the way I just explained.
We had torrential rains early this morning, so my barrels are again full, and my overflow hose worked fine. I call a heavy rainfall an "overflow situation"... My wife thinks I am nuts, but I am thrilled how my setup is working! I am very happy with what I did. It is not that I am too cheap to use city water, I feel that the rain water makes everything grow MUCH better. My tomato plants are 7' tall and I can't eat and give the tomatoes away fast enough!
If there is anything I can clarify, just let me know. There are so many different ways of building these things. 
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RE: need rain barrel help
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| I got some really good advise from a place called www.rain20.com. No, I don't work for them. They suggested i heat-up the spot on the side of my barrel (it's polyethylene) where i am inseting my faucet, heat it up with a home-style hair dryer and then screw a threaded pipe into the side slowly. It really worked very nicely. I think you can do much better with a real diverter. The threaded pipe created its own grooves in the plastic. I sealed it with a marine caulk. By the way, i also got my diverter from them. It's made of aluminum just like my downspout. I think it looks better than the flexy plastic I saw here that someone used. Anyway, just an idea. Cost about $35.00. Nice people. Don't work for them or anyone else. Vern Johnson |
Here is a link that might be useful: Company that provides diverters
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