DIY Rain Barrel System - GardenFork
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ก.พ. 2025
- Build your own rain barrel system with our DIY video. Using PVC pipe and two trash cans, this rainwater collection system will water your garden. Simple rain barrel construction, watch our how to video and make your own. Watch More GardenFork DIY videos here:
Get the rainwater downspout diverter here: amzn.to/1QrZcAH
Our rain barrel installation has done very well since we built it this spring. we have had some weeks of no rain yet the rain barrels helped us water the garden. Proof that the rainwater collection system works well. We have used mosquito dunks, these round donuts of mosquito insecticide in both rain barrels to kill mosquito larvae.
Rainwater harvesting is regulated in some parts of the US, check with your local town.
Our DIY Soaker Hose System video: • How to Build a Drip Ir...
Photos and a parts list on our site: www.gardenfork....
Get our Email News: www.gardenfork....
Twitter: / gardenforktv
Facebook: / gardenfork
Google+: plus.google.co...
Pinterest: / gardenforktv
More great DIY, Cooking, Gardening, Home Improvement, Urban Homesteading videos and info on our site: GardenFork.TV
Amazon and some other links are affiliate links, we get a small finder's fee for referring purchasers to their sites. Its part of how we pay for producing GardenFork
Produced by GardenFork Media LLC ©2015 all rights reserved All embeds must live link to GardenFork.TV. No Editorial Excerpts without permission, Violators agree to pay $5,000 per second + $10 per view + all collections & lawyers fees Music: Happy Hour, Composed by Dale Herr (ASCAP) , Toast Factory Publishing (ASCAP) Recording Licensed from the UniqueTracks Production Music Library Inc.
This is the best design I've seen for this so far! Great job!
The most important reason for using free rain water in the garden is if you water with tap water your garden does not do half as well with that chlorine and whatever other chemicals they add! Rain water is far superior even if you consider the pollutants it has pick up!
I’m to lazy to look but you left out a major point. During the dry fitting of your pipe, once you have everything aligned, use a marker to add lines to each fitting area. This lets you know where to line up plumbing when gluing does its glued at the same angles you dry fitted.
Good and simple plan! Thanks again!!! :)
I love your videos
Lucas Jacobsen thx Lucas, appreciate you watching, let us know any suggestions for more DIY video, eric.
thanks for the info, been wanting to do this. Have to admit, I never thought of the over flow pipe, makes a lot of sense. I would had not done that.
+altha2008 yes, the overflow pipe is key with this rain barrel design, else the water will spill over the tops of the barrels. thx!
Going to make one. Again thanks for that little bit of info. how is the best way to cut threw the plastic garbage cans. I was thanking about using one for plants getting a 3 inch pipe cut it in small pieaces for the plants to grow out of the sides
I love your garden and DIY videos, your labradors (I have one too) and I can also enjoy the music of your videos (bossa nova) from my country S2 (Brazil)! Following!
"Why store rain water?" is just like when people ask me "Why forage wild food?"
Its free food! Just like its free water!
So my question would be "Why pay?"
Size of spigot? Spigot adapters? You left out all of that key info. On your website, you listed “Assorted PVC adapters to fit the garden hose spigot to the end of the PVC pipe”
Please specify exactly the components of the spigot valve. Also is there any mesh filter? Are you drilling a hole in the 2nd can lid to relieve any pressure or leaving it?
Ques..why did u go thru the bottom of bin rather than the bottom side so u can have access from the front? I'm building one of these this season n I'm getting ideas
Im looking into doing something similar to this at my property! how have the barrels held up in the past 5 years? Or, when did they fail?
WILL BOTH BARRELS FILL WITH THAT SET UP?
Had to thumbs up cause how happy he looked explaining it lmao good shit tho!
its a great rain barrel! it fills up very quickly from the roof gutters. thx!
I've heard that it's illegal in some states to collect rain water. It so stupid. Great video!!!
Love2boat92 yes, some western states have rainwater collection rules. but this rain barrel plan is great. thx! eric.
GardenFork Yeah. Rainwater they view it as government owned. Lol. You can't own rainwater. It is a very good idea for sure.
Love2boat92 rainwater collection is a complicated issue in the western states, i believe its tied up in mineral rights, etc. that were established when the west was being colonized. thx, eric.
GardenFork It sure is. Lol. It shouldn't be though. Mineral rights? That's interesting. I heard it was the governements property. Lol. They can own rain apparently. Ha! Wonder if they can own water, and air too? B.S.
How can you not collect rain? That would be like saying you cannot collect sunlight. Whatever state that is must be on another planet.
I have a question...I have started to build a rain barrel holding system. (I cannot figure how to attach picture, sorry). I have a big barrel on the bottom maybe 150gal. then I put a few heavy duty Tupperware totes about 45 gallons each. Should I caulk/seal the lids of totes to the tote? Or will the pressure of the totes/water on top seal?
Thank you for your time...
FYI, if your roofing is asphalt you will contaminate food products in your garden.
I've been putting a similar system together and am close to completing it. My question is in regards to the garbage cans - have you noticed any deformation of them when they are full of water? Thanks, and great video.
Hi Ed, As long as we empty them before winter freezing temps, the cans have been OK. Hardest part is building a support strong enough to hold that much water weight 3-4 feet up in the air. thx!
This comment may be two years late, but I've found that the cheaper cans will bow out when full, but the heavier, more expensive one (Brute is the brand I have) is better about.
The system looks solid, but I'm concerned about the plastic being safe. I grow potatoes in large plastic cat food containers. When researching this, I thought it was safer to use food grade plastic instead of trash cans. Do you think the water could be contaminated from the plastic; especially if the plastic is exposed to direct sun?
thegrimjester Not to be used as drinking or cooking water. Watering the garden, the first cycle of the laundry, washing the car, filling the toilet, washing the dogs etc..
thegrimjester in a perfect we would use food grade plastic barrels, but our budget was limited. And this is in NYC, the water has already run across a flat rubber roof, which is next to a highway. so I'm thinking the rainwater is already not pure, so for this purpose, the regular trash barrels work. thx! eric.
nice
asphalt water should be nice for the veggies ;)
considering the rain came from NYC clouds, it will be ok i think! ;)
We have a metal roof woth no gutters. How could we modify this system to work with the water coming directly off the roof?
Put up gutters to catch the rain. Thx!
Great! Just one thing I'm missing. Don't you need a plumbing connection from the first barrel to the second?
James Gallagher in the middle of the video you'll see a pipe that connects the two barrels from underneath. you can check out the photos here: www.gardenfork.tv/diy-rain-barrel-system-gf-video-2
Can you use this in combination with a soaker house? Is the water pressure adequate? Also given an average annual rainfall in the northeast, how large should the containers be if you want the barrels to be the only water source? (If that's possible.)
can't answer about rain barrels for a sole water source, but i have seen gravity feed soaker hoses for sale on line, haven't used them. thx!
My rain barrel to is only a foot off the ground. I tested it with a soaker hose and a regular garden hose. The soaker hose was pretty much useless. The garden hose was better but also useless to run a sprinkler. The water pressure really depends on how high the barrel is positioned but I'm not going to put it on top of the garage to find out. LOL
yes, the water pressure is not the greatest. most people hand water with the rain barrel hose. i hope to get one up on hill to see how much better it works. thx!
Its a good video.. however.. I'm really starting from scratch. Some people don't have scrap lumber hanging around, would be nice to know what to buy and the dimensions so to build the stand.
+billanddiduffy the dimensions depend on how high you want it and how big are the barrels. built a flat platform, add legs, cross brace the legs, and you are good to go!
My husband and I are looking into doing this . I'm just curious if there is a way to keep the water from freezing in the winter when temps drop. We are wanting to do some indoor growing for the winter and would like to water our indoor plants with the rain water. Thanks. :-)
+Tracy R Hi Tracy, i don't know of any way to keep the rain barrels from freezing in winter. Best to drain them before it freezes. thx! eric.
maybe a little salt in the water?
england92518 probably don’t want to salt the plants.
I am convinced I have seen this. IS this an upload or update from a previous video?
Aaron's allotment Hi Aaron, we are re-editing and uploading all the DIY videos on the the original gardenfork channel, here why: th-cam.com/video/vDM0Qlr0aQw/w-d-xo.html
I am asking this question around the net.
I have 2 rain barrels, but at this point we have used all the water collected, and we are not expecting rain here--if at all--for at least another week. I have read that you can use "house water" if you allow it to sit in the sun for about 24 hours. Doing that I am told will evaporate the chlorine---which I have read is not good for plants! True or not---that letting the house water sit out in the sun will rid the water of chlorine AND that chlorine is not good for plants!!
Also, I noticed that when the water sits in the barrels it begins to smell, not a bad smell, but not a good smell either! Also, it appears that a kind of green slim is starting to build up on the inside of the barrels.
Any thoughts?
Thanks.
+John Holloway something like 98% of US homes water their gardens with tap water. standing water will have algae growing in it. nature happens.
To help stop algae from growing in your barrel ensure there is a cover for the barrel. Algae likes sun so the darker it is in the barrel the better it is, and also wash out the barrel in the spring!
Do you do anything differently in the winter? Like will ice break your cans?
I empty out my bins and store them in the garage over winter
What do you do with them in the winter?
Kevin Cummings we drain them and set the downspout diverter to drain out into the yard instead of in to the rain barrels. keeps water inside them from freezing and cracking the barrel. thx! eric
Cooool
How to do prevent insect and mosquito from laying eyes?
we use what are called 'mosquito dunks' they are round 2" discs that float in the barrels and are a natural insecticide for mosquito eggs.
Would it be safe to drink and eat our fruits & plants, using dunks?
Where I am at there are lot of mosquito/bugs in the summer.
Where did you buy the diverter ?
OopsanOhno right here: @1
should have labs peeking out of rain barrels ........ other than that ... GREAT REPURPOSED VID
DracePlace thankfully these rain barrels are high enough to keep them out! eric.
why don,t you just have water tanks,we have in australia every where mainly for off the grid people and new houses have to have rain water tanks.
michelle from down under in bundy Because they are expensive.
michelle from down under in bundy in the US, water scarcity has not become a big issue yet, but it makes sense in Australia. thx! eric.
Sorry guys. dont you need some kind of a filter or someting like that??
+Rafael F Hi Rafael, we have not had to filter the water from the rain barrels, they work great. thx!
Instead of a filter, another option would be to have the out flow coming from the side, 6-10 inches from the bottom. That way all your sediment will collect on the bottom.
i've thought of that as well, my concern there would be a constant amount of water in the barrel that would allow algae and mosquitos. our barrel will empty out, and dry a bit, which i think helps with bugs and plant growth in the barrell. but i could be wrong about this. ?
The plants in your garden have not evolved over the past few thousand years to deal with chlorine and or fluoride as rain water does not have these chemicals. Your own body has not evolved with these chemicals in mind either.