What is a Rain Barrel?

A rain barrel collects water and stores it for when you need it most—during dry spells—to water plants, wash your car, or even to top off a swimming pool. It provides an ample supply of free ‘soft water’ to homeowners, containing no chlorine, lime or calcium making it ideal for gardens, flowerpots, and car or window washing. Using a rain barrel diverts water from storm drains, decreasing the impact of runoff to streams and the Chesapeake Bay. A rain barrel is an easy way for you to “Save the Bay” and have a consistent supply of clean, fresh water for outdoor use, FREE!

Why Should I Use a Rain Barrel?

Lawn and garden watering make up nearly 40 percent of typical total household water use during the summer. A rain barrel can save most homeowners about 1,300 gallons of water during the peak summer months. Saving water not only helps protect the environment, it saves you money and energy (decreased demand from treated tap water).  Furthermore, the rain captured in rain barrels can be a source of chemically untreated 'soft water' for gardens and compost, free of most sediment and dissolved salts.

By diverting  and storing rainwater runoff from impervious areas such as roofs, these devices reduce the undesirable impacts of runoff that would otherwise flow swiftly into receiving waters and contribute to flooding and erosion problems. In short, rain barrels are a low-cost way to reduce polluting runoff, reduce household water usage, and save you money while improving the quality of streams and neighborhoods. When coupled with a water-wise garden, they can significantly reduce storm water runoff impacts to our local waterways.

Developing Your Goals and Budget

Before charging ahead with a rain barrel project it is crucial to determine the budget for your work and set your goals.

Goals

You may be building or purchasing rain barrels just for the members of your organization, or for an individual structure, or you may be targeting a neighborhood with high storm water runoff, or targeting a specific audience such as schools in your watershed.  Whatever the case, you will want to write out your specific goals and let them guide your work plan. Some example goals:

• Reduce impacts of storm water runoff for a sub-watershed of your local stream
• Enhance community awareness of storm water runoff and non-point source pollution
• Foster environmental stewardship and an interest in science by students, teachers, administrators, and members of the community.

Keep in mind that your goals and your audience may affect whether you purchase or build your own rain barrels.  Building your own rain barrel helps develop a sense of pride and ownership, however pre-made rain barrels are easier to maintain.  It may not be appropriate, for example, for young students to build their own rain barrel because of the use of power tools.  On the other hand, if your target audience is very motivated, building your own rain barrel may work well. For a rain barrel to work properly three things must occur:  1) It must be built properly; 2) It must be installed properly; and 3) It must be maintained properly.  Depending on what your goals are, building or purchasing the rain barrels might just be the first step of your work and not the end point!

Budget

Cost

Rain barrels come in two varieties—home-built or purpose built.  Whatever route you choose, a rain barrel requires more than just the barrel itself to work.  Below is a cost comparison between purchasing a rain barrel and building it yourself.

*It is important to note that the tools needed to build and install a rain barrel are not included in the estimate above.  You will need at minimum an electric drill, several different hole saws and drill bits, pipe router, soft hose cutters, tin snips, and an adjustable wrench.  If you are creating several dozen barrels and selling them to cover costs, the cost of these tools can be more easily be made up than if you are creating several barrels.

Financing

The two major ways of financing a rain barrel project are to have individual purchasers pay for their rain barrel or to seek funding through grants and donations.  Some rain barrel projects are funded through a combination of the two methods.  Whichever method you choose will affect your work plan.

Preparing to Host a Rain Barrel Building Event

These steps will vary depending on how you have set up your project.  For example, if you are financing your project through individual purchases, your first step is to canvas your targeted area to find interested homeowners and collect their money.  On the other hand, if you have funded your project through a grant, your first step is to order the rain barrels.  Below is a sample timeline for a project funded through a grant where individuals will build their own barrels:

1. Determine the target area for the rain barrels;
2. Order rain barrels from supplier (if you are building your own barrels, be mindful that the demand for food-grade barrels has increased as the popularity of rain barrels has risen, so make sure you secure your raw barrels well in advance);
3. Arrange for a location to store and build the rain barrels;
4. Arrange for barrels to be delivered or to pick up the barrels (NOTE: this may be an additional cost);
5. Purchase other needed supplies – tools and rain barrel parts;
6. Advertise the rain barrel construction day through as many outlets as possible;
7. Create and print owner’s manual/educational materials;
8. Host rain barrel construction day;
9. Arrange for delivery of rain barrels to recipients (if they will not be taking them home themselves);
10. Arrange site visits to make sure that rain barrels are properly installed and/or to help install them;
11. Call rain barrel owners to remind them to drain their rain barrels after rainstorms for the first month of ownership to instill the habit of emptying them.

Advertising your Rain Barrel Project

There are lots of ways to advertise for an event and, unfortunately, no one way works consistently.  Here are several options for you to choose from.  The best outreach campaigns make use of several techniques and only you can know what is best for your project.  Advertising options include:

• Creating and distributing door hangers to target a specific neighborhood where you would like to work;
• Creating and distributing a press release to your local paper, radio stations and/or television stations (see the Resources section for information on how to write and distribute a press release);
• Creating flyers and placing them in public libraries, recreation centers, and walking trails;
• Developing a web site or adding the information to an existing web site;
• Running an advertisement in a local paper, or on radio stations and/or television stations;
• Discussing the event at targeted community association, church group, youth group, and/or service organization meetings;
• Advertising your event on free on-line environmental calendars like ICPRB’s Potomac Watershed Events
• Sending out an email to people you think would be interested and asking them to tell their friends as well;
• Sending out a mass mailing to your targeted audience.

Distribution

It is not enough to give out the rain barrels and assume that they have been installed correctly.  In advance of your distribution make sure to:

• Create or set aside a rain barrel to demonstrate proper installation;
• Find a downspout at or near your distribution site where you can demonstrate installation;
• Prepare the downspout so that the demonstration will go quickly and smoothly;
• Create and print a sign in sheet;
• Create and print instructions for installing the rain barrels if possible with diagrams;
• Recruit volunteers to visit homes to help install the rain barrel and/or to make sure that rain barrels are properly installed

Locating and Sizing of Rain Barrels

Location

Rain barrels can be placed just about anywhere there is level ground!  They do not take up a lot of space—in general they have a footprint of about four square feet.  Logically, most rain barrels are placed under existing downspouts from gutters; however this is not a requirement.  If you wish, a rain barrel can be placed away from your home as long as there is a way of conducting water from your roof to the rain barrel. The only other consideration in placing your rain barrel is locating them so that they can be elevated.  For a rain barrel to drain well, it needs to be elevated.  This is both so that the water will get an extra push from gravity and so that you can place a watering can or bucket beneath the spigot.

Size

In order to determine the size and/or number of rain barrels that are needed at a particular site, you need to know the size of your roof or the portion of roof that will drain to the rain barrel.  Additionally, you must use your own judgment about how often it is acceptable for your rain barrel to overflow. A good rule of thumb for determining the amount of runoff from your roof to your rain barrel is that a one-inch rainstorm on a 1,000 square foot roof will produce about 625 gallons of runoff – or about 63 gallons per every 100 square feet.  The average rain barrel holds about 60 gallons of water.  Therefore if your roof were only 100 square feet in size one rain barrel would probably be acceptable to capture your home’s runoff from most storms. Most of us do not have 100 square foot roofs, however it is important to note that most rainstorms in the mid-Atlantic area drop less than one inch of rainfall. There are several on-line rain barrel runoff calculators available.  Try a search with the terms “rain barrel” and “calculator.” Once you have estimated the size of the roof area determine how much water you would like to store in your rain barrel(s).  If you decide that a typical 60 gallon rain barrel is not sufficient, there are larger versions that are available or you can link two or more rain barrels together in a series.

Installing Your Barrel

The installation process is just as important as the construction process.  A barrel can be solidly constructed, but it will not work properly if it is not installed properly.  There are two parts to installing a barrel – 1) setting up the barrel and 2) modifying the downspout.

Step 1 – Setting up the Barrel

1. Make sure that the ground is level where the barrel will be placed.  Often a cement tile is helpful to both level the barrel and distribute its weight.

2. Elevate the rain barrel.  Rain barrels are designed to take advantage of gravity. Water will flow from the lower hose when the hose nozzle is below the barrel. You may also consider the height of a watering can if you choose to use one. Place the barrel on cinder blocks about 15 inches off the ground at a minimum.

Step 2 – Modifying the Downspout

1. If you are not using a diverter with specific downspout modification instructions, cut the existing downspout with a hacksaw.
2. Connect the newly cut end piece to the existing downspout using a gutter elbow and/or flexible spout. The end of the downspout should be placed on top of the barrel so that the rainwater can flow into the barrel.
3. Direct the overflow tube at the top of your barrel so that it drains into a pervious area in your yard at least 10 feet AWAY from your foundation.

Optional Modifications to your Rain Barrel

1. It is possible to connect multiple rain barrels together using the overflow tube as a connection from one barrel to the next in a series.
2. The lower drain tube can be used to connect a soaker hose so that rainfall collected in the barrel will water a selected area slowly over time. The soaker hose will need to be periodically cleaned out using forceful water from a garden tap as small particles (sediment and pollen) collect in the porous hose.

Maintaining Your Rain Barrels

Maintaining a rain barrel is easy and inexpensive!  The most important thing to remember to keep your rain barrel working properly is to EMPTY THE RAIN BARREL AFTER EVERY RAINSTORM!!!  If you do not drain your full rain barrel, it cannot collect more water during the next storm! In addition to draining the rain barrels after storms, rain barrels require some additional maintenance.  Rain barrels and their connections should be inspected twice a year (usually in the spring and fall) and damaged items should either repaired or replaced as needed.  Follow these simple steps to ensure your rain barrel keeps working well:

1. Inspect the roof to ensure that no particulate matter or other parts of the roof are entering the gutter and downspout to the rain barrel.
2. Examine the gutters to ensure that no leaks or obstructions are occurring.
3. Look at the downspouts and the entrance to the rain barrel also to assure that no leaks or obstructions are occurring.
4. Check out the rain barrel for potential leaks, including the barrel top and around any fittings.
5. Look at the runoff/overflow pipe to ensure that overflow is draining properly.
6. Test the spigot to ensure that it is functioning correctly.
7. Inspect any accessories, such as rain diverters, soaker hoses, linking kits, or additional guttering.

Winterize your rain barrel!

Most of us live in climates that experience a fair amount of freezing in winter, which can destroy a rain barrel.  If a rain barrel fills and then freezes, the ice will expand and can crack the rain barrel. As winter and freezing temperatures approach, disconnect your barrel from the downspout. Clean out any fine particulate matter from the inside. Reconnect the downspout so it is in working order for the winter.

Disconnect fittings that could be damaged, such as overflow hose, elbows, and other external pieces, and store them inside the barrel. Store the barrel upside down on it’s footers and secure in place with bungee cords, fencing, or other measures. You may also choose to store the barrel in a shed or cover the top with a piece of plywood. Be sure the barrel cannot capture any water. Even when not connected to the downspout, the barrel will fill with water.

Reconnect your downspout so it is functioning properly.