My first rain barrel!

13 years ago

My brother and I finished putting together our first rain barrel. And the weather man is calling for thunder bangers tomorrow! The blue plastic barrel was acquired at a old engine swap meet. We turned it upside down, bored a hole into what is now the top, this is the inlet. We used the 3/4" threads in the bung, and threaded plastic PVC parts into that. Then a PVC to brass fitting, into which we installed a brass spigot. Also, a 2" overflow was installed. We used fiberglass window screen at the inlet, and at the end of the overflow. I dropped a 1/4 "doughnut" of a Mosquito Dunk in the tank today. Hopefully it will work as planned. Just waiting for the predicted rain tomorrow!

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Comments (6)

youngblood_2004
13 years ago
Looks great. Nice work! How did you fasten the overflow? I'm eager to build one too.
juggler
Original Author
13 years ago
We "modified" some PCV pieces to make our own 2" bulkhead fitting. We used bicycle inner tubes as gaskets. (You can see some of the "gasket" at the top of the overflow tube.)
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youngblood_2004
13 years ago
Thanks for the tip!
juggler
Original Author
13 years ago
Got my first barrel full of rainwater this morning. No leaks, no runs, no drips!
youngblood_2004
13 years ago
I just got a barrel. I'm ready to try to make my first rain barrel too. I'm going with the same design as you presented. How did you attach the spigot to the bottom of the barrel? I heard that you can get pvc that is threaded for the bung plug. Have you looked into that?
Thanks!
juggler
Original Author
13 years ago
Yup! That's how I mounted the spigot. The bung has standard 3/4" pipe thread molded into it. You can find everything you need at Lowes or Home Depot. Remember to post pics when your done! :)