It’s amazing how much water can be collected from rainwater harvesting. 1000 square foot area and 1” of rain will collect 600 gallons of water. So a 2000 sq foot home can get 1200 gallons with 1” of rain. I am part of our emergency preparedness and communication in my area so learning a lot. I live in high desert of So Calif where we get about 6-7” rainfall so I try to collect everything I can. Thanks for sharing your install.
I know most of this has been covered but, i didnt read all of the comments so here goes. The two barrels can be at the same height. You can connect the two barrels with a hose at the bottom. If you want to isolate the second barrel you can install a check valve between the two barrels that only lets water flow one direction (backflow preventer). The two barrels would need to be vented at the top (loose lid). Still, great video!
most rain barrel attachments will have a wide flange with a gasket, so expansion of the metal isn't an issue. and as far as connecting metals, just use plumbing thread seal tape and you'll never have an issue with your fittings getting stuck together.
I’m happy you went over the galvanic chemistry of disimilar materials. I think that topic is grossly overlooked by the average home gamer. Nice design. Gave me a few ideas for this summer. 👍🏻🇺🇸
I’m one of those people that says “That’s good enough”. My rain barrels sit on pieces of wood and stones. They’ve worked well for several years. Yours are prettier but mine function. Thank you for your video. Don’t the right, esthetically pleasing way!
I've found a 120 liter barrel someone threw away in the midst of my city. I cleaned it, made a small hole myself with a narrow sharp pointed knife, heating it on the cooker, than bought a plastic barrel tap, and placed it in the cortyard (that noone uses anyway), on bricks (gotten from a flat that workers would have to carry out - I spared them some work) along with all other possible and immaginable containers, found here and there. Investment ? Plastic funnels, and now I'm just waiting for neighbors above to give me thumbs up as they no longer have to use tap water for their plants. A great idea I came up myself when i noticed algae in bottles waiting to be picked up - any package similar to Chips and such, and a rubber, protects the bottle. A smaller pack when cut and spread, protects the cap. Don't forget that our star is restlessly heating the planet, and what happened to me (lesson learned) is I had two buckets blocked one in the other, in my countryside plot, they were put in a "let them sit there", place noone sees for 2, 3 years. But the star does. As I picked them up, to throw them the plastic crumbled as if they stayed in Chernobyl. Therefore, cover the bottle caps as well.
Man, I'm glad you explained about using plastic fittings instead of metal. I inherited a used rain barrel and I was going to replace the petcock with a nice faucet which would have had a different coefficient of expansion. Thanks! You always get into the details and it makes a difference.
I have 2 of these set ups almost identical to yours. My grandfather Romano had these barrels along my uncles barn during the 1950`s He would run the water out the bottom to a home made water manifold and run old hoses off it along the ground with holes punched in them along the plants. The garden was pitched away from the barn and gravity would push water through the hose and out the the holes he made in the garden hose. He would have us kids check the trash barrels for hoses! Waste nothing!! Great video as always and say hi to Dale for us .
Dale just got home from daycare. He's down for the count from all the running, but mustered a yawning hi. I don't have enough of an incline to pump to my garden, but I think a cheap $60 transfer pump should do the trick. The next goal is drip irrigation.
@@02155Tony you can try Instagram, but to be honest, I hardly ever remember to check the messages. You can also contact over figbid, which is easier to respond to.
Thanks. I was getting ready to cut my gutter off at the top of my Barrell then figure out how to handle a full Barrell. The diverter drilled into the gutter and a shutoff is my answer.
Do you love Black Widow spiders? Getting a good base under the rain barrels is important because they are very heavy when full. An uneven base will put extra stress on the plastic and may cause it to fail. For that reason, I would also put large concrete paving stones atop the cinderblocks, to really spread out the forces and hold them together better, while preventing the hollows from becoming weed and bug traps. I found that Black Widow spiders really like to make their homes in protected areas near rain catchers, which could give a very unpleasant surprise when trying to retrieve an object dropped down into the open cinderblocks.
Great recommendation on matching connector types so that they’ll expand and contract appropriately. I’ve not seen that in other vids but it makes perfect sense.
It can be a real problem, especially in winter when everything shrinks. Leaks can develop. Matching like materials will help prevent leaks in the cold when materials naturally contract.
I love the 2 x 4 Leveling Tip! Lead Free Fittings/Materials are Important to me too. Especially when using it for Food Harvest/Gardens. "Seizing to the Hose" is a common thing here in Florida. So, Plastic Shut Off Valve seems like a Must. Great Video, thank you!👍👍👍👍
THANK YOUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!! I'm not all that great with things at all, especially because of my vision but you made this so easy to understand! Thank you!
I recommend covering the top of the blocks with a 24x24 paver, so you don't drop anything down the blocks. In my setup, I also put a paver down before the blocks, to distribute the load evenly. You have a lot of plant needs. I don't think 2 barrels will be enough.
Thx I’ve been trying to get this done for years and yours is the clearest and most helpful especially because I find it hard gathering the items without losing them before the project is finished !
Great video. Something that we are thinking about doing for our kitchen garden. One of our viewers recommended your channel to us. I am glad they did. Thanks for sharing.
I actually have some rain barrels, but we just let them fill up, then dip our watering cans in them. But the plan eventually is to hook it all up similar to your plan. Good info!
Definitely do it. I bought these rain barrels back in November and put the project off because I knew it would take a couple afternoons, but I'm very happy it's done because I know how much time it'll save me in the long run.
Followed your advice. Went to menards and purchased the necessary kits to hookup 3 batrels. The instructions w downspout adapter varied from your location point. First time it rained, the 3 barrels wete filled and spewing out the air hole under ring. One thing I observed was the water line of all three barrels was a level line across all three. So you don't have 3 full barrels, but rather 1 full and 2 less filled barrels. But you have a lot of water and gravity pressure leading to a drip irrigation network for container gardening.
right, you want all your barrels to be the same height because they will all level out. and that top connection hose is actually an overflow so don't run it into your other barrels, as they will be the exact same fullness as the previous barrel and you'll have water spilling out everywhere. connect a runoff hose to it and to a plant or something.
Really great instructions, for filling the barrels in series, thank you! I think I'd prefer to put all barrels at the same elevation and connect them at the base of the barrel, so that they fill and empty at a uniform rate.
Such a cool set up! Gosh you’re so knowledgeable. Thank you so much for sharing all of this. Seriously, your channel is a wealth of info that not only am I glad to be privy to, but I also love sharing your channel for others to benefit from as well. It’s been nice today. I hope you’ve had a great one!
Thanks. I enjoy doing this and I hope the effort that goes into it all helps others. I hope you enjoyed the tour. Good luck with the cuttings! Can’t wait to hear if they work out.
Well, Mr. Wizard! You have some of the most detailed directions I have ever seen in a video! Quite the detail! Fantastic video! What other projects will you be filming?
Great tips. The diverter was installed higher than what the customary instructions in the diverter kit indicate. Although a second barrel was connected, a relief overflow outlet in the second barrel maybe needed when both barrels fill up fast during heavy rains.
So far, the system has worked flawlessly. No issues, and both barrels fill up completely. The only thing I have to do is turn off the top connector hose in between barrels once the lowest barrel fills up. Otherwise, the lower barrel overflows, as you said. Simply switching off the top hose has the system working as designed.
@@TheMillennialGardener That should work - assuming that someone is available all the time to run out and turn off the top hose. With the Earthminded rain barrel diverter set up, once the barrel/s is/are full, it is supposed to automatically shut off the flow of water through the diverter into the barrel. This is reassuring if no one is around to turn off the top hose during heavy rains (which we haven't had in our area yet). Your video was well done and quite instructive nonetheless.
@@TheMillennialGardener What exactly is the purpose of the top hose/shut off? For overflow from the top barrel to fill the top half of the lower barrel? I'm not understanding why we can't have two raised barrels at equal height with a shut-off between them to mix/disburse nutrients - then when nutrients are disbursed, open the shut off to equilibrate the barrel water levels until the next rain (or disburse fresh water from the first barrel)? What am I missing? I'll list this Q below as well so it doesn't get lost in this thread. Thanks for this info! This is the best video by FAR on DIY and as an "older" female DIY, I appreciate the extra details!
I really enjoyed the video @TheMillenialGardener, thank you! Thanks @wowodan6635 for bringing this up -- I'm actually looking to add an Earthminded diverter to my own two rain-barrel setup very soon because of overflow issues I'm currently having. This type of diverter needs to be setup lower so that it actually works as a diverter if your rainbarrels aren't fully enclosed (no holes on the lid, all valves closed, etc). The level of the diverter will dictate how high the water could go in your rainbarrel, so if you want the water to be 1" below the top, then just set up the diverter at that elevation on the gutter. Once water in the tank has reached that level, then the diverter will overflow itself in the gutter and the gutter will work as an overflow pipe. The way that you have it, the diverter will continue to move water into the barrels and it will either find a space in one of the two barrels to overflow once they are filled (like you already mentioned). To fix this, you should just move down the diverter probably 6-8" (hard to tell from the video). If I'm missing something or if you think this fix won't do it, please let me know. I think this is important to note so that other people don't run into this issue (not everybody will be able to be there to turn off the valves once the tanks fill up if the overflow isn't setup correctly). Also, could you please explain why you have two connections for the barrels? The bottom connection will hydraulically fill the second tank to the same water elevation as the first tank regardless of where the second tank sits, so the water levels will match elevations from the ground surface (not from the bottom of each barrel). The top connection will only fill up the second tank if the first one filled too fast and the bottom connection isn't able to keep up (or if that valve is closed). You may have explained this already, but one one reason I see to do this is because if you want to mix fertilizer in the second tank, then you'd want to have the option to fill up from the bottom when the second tank is empty, close the bottom valve (keep top valve open), mix fertilizer, and only allow water in from the top so the fertilizer won't make it into the first tank. Thanks again!
Thank you for the step-by-step explanation and for the info about mixing metals! I know it takes extra time but your efforts are very much appreciated!
I saved your video for reference thinking that this would be my go-to when I was ready to put my setup together. I now have most of the stuff but after looking at my instructions and watching your video more times, I am running into points of confusion. At the 9:20 mark of your video you carefully explained the position of the black rubber "attachment piece" and the connecting accordion hose into the gutter downspout and relative to the height of the rain barrel such that when the barrel becomes full the attachment piece will backflow fill with water with additional water flowing down the downspout instead of into the full rain barrel. You also showed the diagram with the hose and attachment piece relatively level with the top of the rain barrel. Then at the 10:15 mark on the video you provided an alternate explanation of where and how to position the attachment piece and accordion hose into the gutter downspout essentially above the insertion point at the top of the rain barrel to make use of gravity while disregarding the level to level point between the barrel and the downspout so that the water stops trying to flow into the barrel once the barrel is full. So, by absorbing the two conflicting explanations the whole thing becomes counter intuitive. Theoretically (and hopefully) the lid on top of the rain barrel will stop the water from overflowing all around your elegant double rain barrel setup rather than forcing it down the gutter downspout. It makes me wonder however if maybe you ran into problems with the water pressure inside of the downpipe building up to the point of impeding the water flow down the gutter pipe when the rain barrel becomes full. If you are no longer paying attention to the comments on your years old videos, it's not going to make any difference to me and I will figure it out one way or another and most certainly before I start drilling holes in things.
This is a great video. I'm going to try to make one that works in the soil where I live. Over time our wet soil heaves everything with the freeze and thaw unless there's a 4-6" foundation of paver base.
Looking forward to learning more from your pump/drip installation. We have barrels and are looking at pump and irrigation options, but it’s overwhelming.
I still have to figure out how to get the water to my garden. The spring garden prep has put the drip irrigation protect on the back burner, but it'll happen. Thanks for watching!
If you enjoyed the video, the biggest thanks you can give is to hit the LIKE button & share it to extend its reach and help more people! TIMESTAMPS for convenience: 0:00 Reasons For Installing Rain Barrels In Your Garden 1:51 Selecting A Location 2:19 Leveling The Ground 4:29 Building A Rain Barrel Stand Out Of Concrete Block 8:16 Rain Barrel Diverter Kit 9:43 Rain Barrel Diverter Install 12:40 Rain Barrel Diverter In Action During Rain 13:17 Building A Rain Barrel Array 14:14 Installing Shutoff Valves, Spigots And Male Adapters 17:10 How To Make A Rain Barrel Connector Hose To Connect Multiple Rain Barrels Together 17:38 How To Make A Rain Barrel Link Hose With Hair Dryer Trick! 19:18 Installing Rain Barrel Linking Hose 19:52 Filling And Using Rain Barrel
I have a quick question. Now that you have had this system for a while, how it is working out. Do you need more water than the 2 barrels can hold ? Also I am seeing online white 250 gallon square containers that are sitting in a metal frame on FB market place. If you know what I am talking about seeing, my question is do you think the white 250 containers would work even better or not. I'm wondering if the plastic on those 250 containers is not as thick and perhaps less durable. I haven't seen them up close just wondering if you've looked at those.? They are on FB marketplace in Loris or Conway, SC if I remember right. Love this video so much that I've watch twice now as I'm on city water though I'm out in the country in rural Columbus County. I'm thinking seriously on devising this to water my 60x25 and 16x 14 gardens. Lol hope it rains again soon as we are in need here! Hate to bombard you with questions but do you think a water hose attached and gravity fed to my garden will work without a water pump?
Love the job! This is what I'll be doing. Following your steps. BTW. #2 doesn't really eliminate chemicals. Rain contains almost all the same elements in the city water supply except for maybe fluoride, but it has other junk like barium and lots of aluminum.
This video was an amazing setup guide! Thank you for posting it! Now I need to find the video that has the install for the water pump and irrigation setup ;)
Thank you. I had initially thought I needed a water pump, too, but I was able to feed my entire garden using gravity by adding another layer of cinder blocks. I documented my ENTIRE setup in my playlist here, and I urge you to see if you can design a gravity-fed setup first before you go through the trouble of a pump: ua-cam.com/play/PL1gY7BoYBGIHHHsx0JPcYgD4xXzA96usL.html You can stack the blocks 5, 6, 7, 8 blocks high if you want, so you can definitely create some head pressure if designed right from the start.
@@TheMillennialGardener Thank you so much for this helpful information. I will def need a pump for my setup. I will need to push it up a 20ft gradual incline hill to get to my garden area unfortunately. You wouldn't be able to recommend a pump by chance would you?
Great Videos BTW. Your ideas have been invaluable to my backyard gardening. Quick Question: How do you prevent your rain barrels from freezing up during the cold winter months? I'm in the process of installing mine, but worried about it freezing over. Hope you see this question, as your video was created 2yrs ago
We've got 4x 50 gallon barrels installed right now...but we have 3x 200 gallon barrels to install soon. We have paver pads installed and the overflows are already plumbed. FYI you might have to thoroughly clean your barrels seasonally if you're using fertilizer to prevent algal buildup. Especially important if you're using drip. The emitters are really finicky with clogging (we're using a whole house water filter and softener to cut down on hard water deposits). I've had good luck with using a pressure washer to blast gunk out of barrels (especially those in the sun).
I imagine in your climate, saving every drop of water you get is critical. How much rain do you get annually? I intend to use mostly drip tape, and the majority of fertilizer that I will be mixing in these barrels will be soluble. I intend to use mostly MiracleGro equivalent with micronized azomite and fish emulsion, so I'm hoping that will help keep algal growth down. But yes, I would expect that eventually. I intend to use more drip tape than emitters, but I'm still up in the air. The good thing about emitters are they cost a couple pennies a piece, so I don't intend to use them beyond a season.
@@TheMillennialGardener We get maybe 14" of rain on an "average" year. I've got a mix of drip line (6 or 12" spaced emitters) and discrete emitters. I think single emitters can be ok for small shrubs or plants, but I find the drip line is fairly easy to put in rings or spirals for small trees and get good coverage. Once our trees get to full size I might have to re-evaluate, drip line spiraled over a large area would probably be too many emitters. Probably some 1/8" mainline out to emitters in a wedge sort of layout would probably be best. I haven't experimented with drip tape for vegetable beds, currently using 6" (or 12") spaced drip line depending on how dense the plants are in a bed. It'll be interesting to see what your experience is running nutrients through emitters. Might be worth considering doing some water only cycles through the system to try and keep stuff from accumulating over a season (i.e. mineral deposits). If you start getting algae in your barrels, usually it can clog just about anything (including standard sized hose bibs). Might be worth having an in-line filter that you can clean out just to check, I'd hate to have some of your mainline get clogged.
A rain barrel can easily be filled from the bottom up using the same bib used to draw the water. Theoretically, if you place your gutter diverter higher than the top of your rain barrel, and connect a water tight feed line to the outlet, your barrel fill from the bottom up using gravity. You probably need a breather hole on your last barrel to let air escape as barrels fill and empty but most IBC totes have a breather in their cap. A single tote would replace all your barrels.
Hi - I used all of your advice. Very helpful! I purchased a drip irrigation package with the fittings for 8 raised beds and it had all the parts except for a few that you recommended the backflow preventer and the pressure regulator so I got those in addition. What I found was that I needed 2 backflow preventers, one at the hose end and one at the rain barrel end. If there wasn't one at the rain barrel, water flowed back into the barrel. And I also found that I could water my beds using just the rain barrel if I connected a backflow preventer to the barrel's spigot. However, it leaks at the backflow preventer so I don't know what to do about that.
This is great thank you. I have a similar setup flowing into the second barrel but sometimes the rain pushes itself out of the crack in the screwed lid. I wonder if the additional pressure in your barrel #2 (due to height) might have the same exploit due to higher pressure. One though I’ve been considering is having an overflow at the top of the second barrel that feeds back into the downspout. I love the idea of adding fertilizer, thank you for that.
Is Arkansas rocky? I thought *most of it* was pretty flat outside of the Ozarks. I assume you're in the more mountainous region? I live 9 miles from the ocean, so it's as flat as a pancake, here. My driveway is the closest thing to a "hill" around these parts.
Excellent tutorial and perfect timing for me as I plan my rain barrel irrigation. We don't get enough rain, so I am buying an inline garden hose filter to fill the barrels to irrigate. Since I don't have power that far from my house, I have to depend upon gravity. Annyway, this gives me some great info for planning and installing. Thanks!
I'm going to try gravity, but I think I'm going to need a transfer pump. People hook small fluid transfer pumps to marine batteries (like car batteries), and they can last years. They're also rechargeable. Something to consider.
@@TheMillennialGardener OK. The wheels are spinning. A solar battery would be perfect if I could find something affordable. I also have drainage issues and would love to pump that to the back yard... working out the logistics with height difference, but a pump may be the solution. Thanks.
Ryobi makes a 18v battery powered water transfer pump with 3/4" fittings so you can use your garden hoses. It's great when there is no power around. Good luck out there.
Joanie, it's been a year since you wrote, but I wanted to mention that I use these blue in-line water filters that are meant for RVs to filter water going into their water tanks. Made for hose fittings and WAY cheaper than most of the filters that are sold specifically for garden use. Been doing that a few years now for all my garden hoses. Shopped carefully this year and got a box of 6 quality filters for a very good price. Being able to water without chlorine (and a lot of other horrid stuff) makes me so happy. This year I upgraded to all food-safe hoses too. All best wishes.
Hello, good video with always an interesting topic. I dream of a big yard, maybe later this year or next. I imagine many things like you do and I wait for the next video. Thanks for the videos.
Thank you for watching. I appreciate it. If you can get more land, definitely do so. I'm the happiest I've ever been since moving out of an urban setting to a more rural area with more land. If that's your dream, go for it!
I thing i would say, when you fit the diverter into the pipe from the gutter, the barrel will try to fill to level with it. So if you install it slightly below the top of the barrell nothing will ever leak out of the barrell. Im sure the thread on his barell can seal, but its imposible to leak regardless if its slightly below.
Very professional rain barrel installation. It's clean, it's modern, doesn't look amateurish like you see with many attempts online. You even thought of the galvanization that occurs between different metal joining pieces. Only question is, if you can safely mix fertilizer into the lower rain barrel? Will it react with the plastic barrel material? (I doubt it, it would be a very weak mixture). Had to subscribe to this channel.
I doubt it, because it's made of the same material as my watering cans 😂 It's all HDPE. HDPE is very resistant to chemicals and is pretty non-reactive. That's why it is used so often in industrial settings. We use HDPE conduit and HDPE jacketed cable in electrical applications frequently because of its corrosion resistance (I'm an electrical engineer, so I'm very pro-HDPE). Thanks for your sub. I really appreciate it!
I've never installed a rain barrel but am assuming the lids are sealed? I have some understanding of designing water systems both from my engineering background and as an aquarium hobbyist designing filtration/water management. I have been wracking my head to the purpose of the top green hose other than for a breather. I'm pretty confident that's what it's being used as, assuming the lids are sealed and there's no other breather vent. Air is being displaced by the water filing the second barrel, traveling into the first barrel and then out through perhaps the downspout diverter? With a sealed system with no top hose, you end up compressing the air left inside the second barrel. At some point you reach an equilibrium between the pressure of the trapped air on top and the head of water from the first barrel, and can't fill it up all the way hence some of the comments. I'm not sure I understand what pressure you are referring to in your comments and how it differs from gravity. Pressure in this setup is directly related to head (how high the water is) which is ultimately governed by gravitational potential energy. The 1st barrel will fill and once the water level reaches the bottom hose, the second barrel will begin to fill. Assuming there is no trapped air, the water levels in both barrels should always be equal in height from the ground. Then once the 2nd barrel is full, it will stop filling and the first barrel will just fill to the top from the downspout until it's full and the downspout diverts. Or the second barrel will overflow a vent if not sealed.
Poor Dale HATES water. When we take him to daycare, all the other pups play in the pool but he won't go near it. We've tried taking him to the beach, too. He hates water. Poor guy.
@@Mark4WorldPeace when we took Dale to the beach last year, I walked into the water and he about had a heart attack like I was going to be washed away forever. He tried so hard to run into the water and save me, but he couldn't manage to get any more than his paws in. He tried 😂
If the lids on your lower barrels are not sealed water tight then it is impossible for your setup to completely fill all three barrels unless you isolate them individually. Water will always reach a natural level in a vented system, its the principle by which a hose water level gauge used by builders operates by, its also basic physics. Put the three barrels at the same level and connect them with a hose at the base and they will fill evenly and completely, if you require a head of water for pressure then set all three barrels higher.
Both barrels fill completely. It is very simple. I leave both connector hoses on, and that fills up the bottom barrel 100%. When the bottom barrel is filled, I turn off the top connector hose. Both barrels are completely filled to the brim as we speak.
I agree. Everything said about transferring between the barrels and isolating the left-hand one still works with the barrels at the same height. Equal height makes it unnecessary to close the top connector hose manually in order to top off the right-hand barrel, and makes the top connector redundant, as you said. Regardless of heights, chemicals added to the left-hand barrel will diffuse to the right-hand one any time the barrels are connected. If you don't want that to happen, you have to drain all the liquid from the left-hand side, and rinse that barrel, before connecting them again. You effectively cut in half your collection capacity any time you add chemicals to one of the barrels. Finally, with the downspout connector so far above the barrel water level, the barrels will overflow and the water will never back up the fill tube far enough to stop the diverter action.
@@bucc5207 I think if we use two barrels raised to equal heights (for downstream drip pressure), you can simply use a lower connector hose. Then when you want to add nutes solely to the left barrel, you can close off the right barrel via the shut-off valve. Disburse your nutes from the left, then rinse as you said, then open the valve so the two barrels equilibrate at about 50/50 ready for the next rain - same as if I had watered with 50% of the water as plain water. I'm hoping I'm understanding, you, yes?
Hi I have a question about the shingle roof, is it ok to collect water for the garden off of the shingle roof? I just set up a rain barrel and didn't take it into consideration beforehand so im hoping you have good news!
I did even better. My local dairy farm had 8 plastic barrels the same size to get rid of. I then put on on every down pipe from my house, workshops garage and garden sheds. Just neede to buy the taps and some plastic piping to divert each down pipe. Yes, a very good idea and a good video. Get the tap high enough to get a watering can under.
Excellent video, explanation and demonstration! Apologies if you've answered any of my confusion in other comments/questions over the years. I like the idea of avoiding lead, but why would this matter in a short section of hose going to a barrel for mixing fertilizer? Not like the water coming off your roof into a gutter and through the downspout is very potable, no? Is your fertilizer food-safe, and is lead (or unfiltered rain water) a concern for watering fruits and vegetables? Next confusion is about connecting sealed barrels and vented ones. Is there much difference in pressure with different barrel heights? I can see the second barrel filling up more if the first barrel is higher (and the first barrel draining more) when they are both connected at their bottoms. Final confusion is about the height of the diverter if either barrel is vented. If the diverter is higher than the vent, water will spill out of the vent and never back up to the diverter and out the downspout, no? Sorry for my confusion, welcoming any clarity, thanks!
![DIY Drip Irrigation Fed By Rain Barrels AND A Spigot [The BEST Guide]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/nm2mHQMLSe8/mqdefault.jpg)
Thank you very much for sharing. I am 69 years old. I cannot believe I'm learning how to do this. Thank you thank you and thank you
You’re welcome! It’s a lot of fun and very rewarding!
It’s amazing how much water can be collected from rainwater harvesting. 1000 square foot area and 1” of rain will collect 600 gallons of water. So a 2000 sq foot home can get 1200 gallons with 1” of rain.
I am part of our emergency preparedness and communication in my area so learning a lot. I live in high desert of So Calif where we get about 6-7” rainfall so I try to collect everything I can.
Thanks for sharing your install.
I know most of this has been covered but, i didnt read all of the comments so here goes. The two barrels can be at the same height. You can connect the two barrels with a hose at the bottom. If you want to isolate the second barrel you can install a check valve between the two barrels that only lets water flow one direction (backflow preventer). The two barrels would need to be vented at the top (loose lid). Still, great video!
You are such an asset to the backyard growing community you take gardening to the next level. Thank you.
Thank you! That's so nice of you. I really appreciate that!
@@TheMillennialGardener Completely agree with Bluegrass!
Very good video. I particularly liked the tip about not mixing metals and how they expand at different rates.
Thank you! I'm glad you found it helpful. My water barrels have been a fantastic investment to date!
most rain barrel attachments will have a wide flange with a gasket, so expansion of the metal isn't an issue. and as far as connecting metals, just use plumbing thread seal tape and you'll never have an issue with your fittings getting stuck together.
I really like how methodical and thorough you are in your videos. And you have great ideas. Glad to see your channel growing too. Thank you!
Yes, very thoughtful on different types of connectors and parts.
I was thinking the same thing! He did such a detailed video
This is the best set up I"ve seen for rain barrels...and I"ve watched dozens of videos on this... nice job!
Thank you! So far, it's worked incredibly well. I water all my fig trees with it, and it saves me 100+ gallons a month!
I agree….mice nest in brick holes.
I’m happy you went over the galvanic chemistry of disimilar materials. I think that topic is grossly overlooked by the average home gamer. Nice design. Gave me a few ideas for this summer. 👍🏻🇺🇸
I’m one of those people that says “That’s good enough”. My rain barrels sit on pieces of wood and stones. They’ve worked well for several years. Yours are prettier but mine function. Thank you for your video. Don’t the right, esthetically pleasing way!
I've found a 120 liter barrel someone threw away in the midst of my city. I cleaned it, made a small hole myself with a narrow sharp pointed knife, heating it on the cooker, than bought a plastic barrel tap, and placed it in the cortyard (that noone uses anyway), on bricks (gotten from a flat that workers would have to carry out - I spared them some work) along with all other possible and immaginable containers, found here and there. Investment ? Plastic funnels, and now I'm just waiting for neighbors above to give me thumbs up as they no longer have to use tap water for their plants. A great idea I came up myself when i noticed algae in bottles waiting to be picked up - any package similar to Chips and such, and a rubber, protects the bottle. A smaller pack when cut and spread, protects the cap. Don't forget that our star is restlessly heating the planet, and what happened to me (lesson learned) is I had two buckets blocked one in the other, in my countryside plot, they were put in a "let them sit there", place noone sees for 2, 3 years. But the star does. As I picked them up, to throw them the plastic crumbled as if they stayed in Chernobyl. Therefore, cover the bottle caps as well.
Man, I'm glad you explained about using plastic fittings instead of metal. I inherited a used rain barrel and I was going to replace the petcock with a nice faucet which would have had a different coefficient of expansion. Thanks! You always get into the details and it makes a difference.
Omg thank you this is far simpler than I thought it was and you explained everything so well. Definitely doing this before winter is over
Glad you found it helpful. It takes a little bit of time, but it's very straightforward and easy. If you get a sunny day, it's a pretty fun install.
This is the best water tanker I ever saw. I have to do it. The tops comes out in case needs to be wash inside. You are the best!
What wonderfully clear instructions! Wow. Just blew me away!! Thank you.
I have 2 of these set ups almost identical to yours. My grandfather Romano had these barrels along my uncles barn during the 1950`s He would run the water out the bottom to a home made water manifold and run old hoses off it along the ground with holes punched in them along the plants. The garden was pitched away from the barn and gravity would push water through the hose and out the the holes he made in the garden hose. He would have us kids check the trash barrels for hoses! Waste nothing!! Great video as always and say hi to Dale for us .
Dale just got home from daycare. He's down for the count from all the running, but mustered a yawning hi. I don't have enough of an incline to pump to my garden, but I think a cheap $60 transfer pump should do the trick. The next goal is drip irrigation.
@@TheMillennialGardener You are well on your way. You will be fine. Where might I contact you to ask a question about fig cuttings? TY
@@02155Tony you can try Instagram, but to be honest, I hardly ever remember to check the messages. You can also contact over figbid, which is easier to respond to.
Thanks. I was getting ready to cut my gutter off at the top of my Barrell then figure out how to handle a full Barrell. The diverter drilled into the gutter and a shutoff is my answer.
Do you love Black Widow spiders? Getting a good base under the rain barrels is important because they are very heavy when full. An uneven base will put extra stress on the plastic and may cause it to fail. For that reason, I would also put large concrete paving stones atop the cinderblocks, to really spread out the forces and hold them together better, while preventing the hollows from becoming weed and bug traps. I found that Black Widow spiders really like to make their homes in protected areas near rain catchers, which could give a very unpleasant surprise when trying to retrieve an object dropped down into the open cinderblocks.
Mice mecca, too
We used bricks with holes….mistake
Great recommendation on matching connector types so that they’ll expand and contract appropriately. I’ve not seen that in other vids but it makes perfect sense.
It can be a real problem, especially in winter when everything shrinks. Leaks can develop. Matching like materials will help prevent leaks in the cold when materials naturally contract.
I love the 2 x 4 Leveling Tip!
Lead Free Fittings/Materials are Important to me too. Especially when using it for Food Harvest/Gardens.
"Seizing to the Hose" is a common thing here in Florida. So, Plastic Shut Off Valve seems like a Must.
Great Video, thank you!👍👍👍👍
Great video. I'm putting in a couple of rain barrels myself. Your video made the work on my end easier. Thanks!
You do an excellent job explaining things clearly. 🙂
Thank you! I really appreciate that!
YOURE such a great teacher!! Thanks for the detailed video
Thank you! I really appreciate you watching.
Plastic fittings info was very informative
Brilliant! Solid video and explanation of every step. Definitely gave me some ideas to consider when I build mine. Thanks!
THANK YOUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!! I'm not all that great with things at all, especially because of my vision but you made this so easy to understand! Thank you!
You’re welcome! I’m glad it was clear. It is a pretty simple install if you take your time and think through all the steps as you do it.
I recommend covering the top of the blocks with a 24x24 paver, so you don't drop anything down the blocks.
In my setup, I also put a paver down before the blocks, to distribute the load evenly.
You have a lot of plant needs. I don't think 2 barrels will be enough.
I think he knows what he is doing. He did not say 2 barrels would be enough. Follow his channel....he has a wealth of info.
Your comment is helpful to others, too.
Thanks dad! This helped a lot!
Glad to help!
Thx
I’ve been trying to get this done for years and yours is the clearest and most helpful especially because I find it hard gathering the items without losing them before the project is finished !
Fantastic. This would solve flooding in Houston
It’s been a wet year for us, too. Nasty as of late. So much rain 😔
Thank you so much. The diverter is exactly what I want. What a genius 😆
It works great!
Great video. Something that we are thinking about doing for our kitchen garden. One of our viewers recommended your channel to us. I am glad they did. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for watching! I'm glad it was helpful.
This is the most helpful video I have watched! I loved your clear and concise explanations - well thought out and so many great tips! Thank you!
I actually have some rain barrels, but we just let them fill up, then dip our watering cans in them. But the plan eventually is to hook it all up similar to your plan. Good info!
Definitely do it. I bought these rain barrels back in November and put the project off because I knew it would take a couple afternoons, but I'm very happy it's done because I know how much time it'll save me in the long run.
Followed your advice. Went to menards and purchased the necessary kits to hookup 3 batrels. The instructions w downspout adapter varied from your location point. First time it rained, the 3 barrels wete filled and spewing out the air hole under ring. One thing I observed was the water line of all three barrels was a level line across all three. So you don't have 3 full barrels, but rather 1 full and 2 less filled barrels. But you have a lot of water and gravity pressure leading to a drip irrigation network for container gardening.
right, you want all your barrels to be the same height because they will all level out. and that top connection hose is actually an overflow so don't run it into your other barrels, as they will be the exact same fullness as the previous barrel and you'll have water spilling out everywhere. connect a runoff hose to it and to a plant or something.
Really great instructions, for filling the barrels in series, thank you! I think I'd prefer to put all barrels at the same elevation and connect them at the base of the barrel, so that they fill and empty at a uniform rate.
Such a cool set up! Gosh you’re so knowledgeable. Thank you so much for sharing all of this. Seriously, your channel is a wealth of info that not only am I glad to be privy to, but I also love sharing your channel for others to benefit from as well. It’s been nice today. I hope you’ve had a great one!
Thanks. I enjoy doing this and I hope the effort that goes into it all helps others. I hope you enjoyed the tour. Good luck with the cuttings! Can’t wait to hear if they work out.
@@TheMillennialGardener I’ll keep you posted!
So many great tips in one video!
Glad it was helpful!
Word of advice - when you drill into plastic barrel with circular, do it counter-clock wise.
My drill only has one direction. But I understand why, since the shavings would then come outside instead of fall into the barrel.
Well, Mr. Wizard! You have some of the most detailed directions I have ever seen in a video! Quite the detail! Fantastic video! What other projects will you be filming?
Detailed but some parts are very very wrong.
@@djwxyz can you explain?
Very nice work. Can't wait to install my Rain Barrel myself. The leveling part is what I need to do as I've already got my bricks.
Great tips. The diverter was installed higher than what the customary instructions in the diverter kit indicate. Although a second barrel was connected, a relief overflow outlet in the second barrel maybe needed when both barrels fill up fast during heavy rains.
So far, the system has worked flawlessly. No issues, and both barrels fill up completely. The only thing I have to do is turn off the top connector hose in between barrels once the lowest barrel fills up. Otherwise, the lower barrel overflows, as you said. Simply switching off the top hose has the system working as designed.
@@TheMillennialGardener That should work - assuming that someone is available all the time to run out and turn off the top hose. With the Earthminded rain barrel diverter set up, once the barrel/s is/are full, it is supposed to automatically shut off the flow of water through the diverter into the barrel. This is reassuring if no one is around to turn off the top hose during heavy rains (which we haven't had in our area yet). Your video was well done and quite instructive nonetheless.
@@TheMillennialGardener What exactly is the purpose of the top hose/shut off? For overflow from the top barrel to fill the top half of the lower barrel? I'm not understanding why we can't have two raised barrels at equal height with a shut-off between them to mix/disburse nutrients - then when nutrients are disbursed, open the shut off to equilibrate the barrel water levels until the next rain (or disburse fresh water from the first barrel)? What am I missing? I'll list this Q below as well so it doesn't get lost in this thread. Thanks for this info! This is the best video by FAR on DIY and as an "older" female DIY, I appreciate the extra details!
I really enjoyed the video @TheMillenialGardener, thank you!
Thanks @wowodan6635 for bringing this up -- I'm actually looking to add an Earthminded diverter to my own two rain-barrel setup very soon because of overflow issues I'm currently having. This type of diverter needs to be setup lower so that it actually works as a diverter if your rainbarrels aren't fully enclosed (no holes on the lid, all valves closed, etc). The level of the diverter will dictate how high the water could go in your rainbarrel, so if you want the water to be 1" below the top, then just set up the diverter at that elevation on the gutter. Once water in the tank has reached that level, then the diverter will overflow itself in the gutter and the gutter will work as an overflow pipe. The way that you have it, the diverter will continue to move water into the barrels and it will either find a space in one of the two barrels to overflow once they are filled (like you already mentioned). To fix this, you should just move down the diverter probably 6-8" (hard to tell from the video). If I'm missing something or if you think this fix won't do it, please let me know. I think this is important to note so that other people don't run into this issue (not everybody will be able to be there to turn off the valves once the tanks fill up if the overflow isn't setup correctly).
Also, could you please explain why you have two connections for the barrels? The bottom connection will hydraulically fill the second tank to the same water elevation as the first tank regardless of where the second tank sits, so the water levels will match elevations from the ground surface (not from the bottom of each barrel). The top connection will only fill up the second tank if the first one filled too fast and the bottom connection isn't able to keep up (or if that valve is closed). You may have explained this already, but one one reason I see to do this is because if you want to mix fertilizer in the second tank, then you'd want to have the option to fill up from the bottom when the second tank is empty, close the bottom valve (keep top valve open), mix fertilizer, and only allow water in from the top so the fertilizer won't make it into the first tank. Thanks again!
Wow, great info on the fittings. I had a brass spigot in my cart! lol thanks
Glad I could be helpful. Thanks for watching!
Thanks much! I have a barrel that's collecting dust. Just was waiting for this video.👍🏽
Excellent! Definitely do it. It's not too hard at all and kind of fun.
Great job explaining everything. I would like to put up a similar set up in my yard. Thank you so much for all the information!
You're welcome. Thank you for watching!
You are a good teacher 👍
Glad you think so! I appreciate that. Thanks for watching!
This was a great instructional video as always!
Thank you!
Thank you for the step-by-step explanation and for the info about mixing metals! I know it takes extra time but your efforts are very much appreciated!
Thank you. I'm happy to help where I can. I like to give as much info as possible.
Detroit Michigan 48221. Thank you very much. I sub, liked and commented : Video paid for.
you can mix the metals just fine if you use plumbing thread seal tape.
Your video was really helpful. Thank you so much
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching!
Well said, thank you for taking the time to make this video.
Very nicely done! Great video, super useful..thank you for sharing!
I saved your video for reference thinking that this would be my go-to when I was ready to put my setup together. I now have most of the stuff but after looking at my instructions and watching your video more times, I am running into points of confusion.
At the 9:20 mark of your video you carefully explained the position of the black rubber "attachment piece" and the connecting accordion hose into the gutter downspout and relative to the height of the rain barrel such that when the barrel becomes full the attachment piece will backflow fill with water with additional water flowing down the downspout instead of into the full rain barrel. You also showed the diagram with the hose and attachment piece relatively level with the top of the rain barrel. Then at the 10:15 mark on the video you provided an alternate explanation of where and how to position the attachment piece and accordion hose into the gutter downspout essentially above the insertion point at the top of the rain barrel to make use of gravity while disregarding the level to level point between the barrel and the downspout so that the water stops trying to flow into the barrel once the barrel is full. So, by absorbing the two conflicting explanations the whole thing becomes counter intuitive. Theoretically (and hopefully) the lid on top of the rain barrel will stop the water from overflowing all around your elegant double rain barrel setup rather than forcing it down the gutter downspout. It makes me wonder however if maybe you ran into problems with the water pressure inside of the downpipe building up to the point of impeding the water flow down the gutter pipe when the rain barrel becomes full.
If you are no longer paying attention to the comments on your years old videos, it's not going to make any difference to me and I will figure it out one way or another and most certainly before I start drilling holes in things.
Thank you so much. I am new to all this and your information was so helpful. I'm planning on adding 2-3 rain barrels this year. Thanks again!!
Nice job! I have a single rain barrel, underneath a gutter spout. I use it to water some flowers and some plants, in my garden.
Thanks! Hope yours is working out well! They have made a noticeable difference on my water bill.
@@TheMillennialGardener Plus, plants like rain water better. Rain water has a perfect, 7.0 pH.
Looks and works nicely... wow good job.
This is a great video. I'm going to try to make one that works in the soil where I live. Over time our wet soil heaves everything with the freeze and thaw unless there's a 4-6" foundation of paver base.
My favorite part of this was your puppy 😊
Dale sends his regards 🐕
Looking forward to learning more from your pump/drip installation. We have barrels and are looking at pump and irrigation options, but it’s overwhelming.
I still have to figure out how to get the water to my garden. The spring garden prep has put the drip irrigation protect on the back burner, but it'll happen. Thanks for watching!
Please list all the items you used.
If you enjoyed the video, the biggest thanks you can give is to hit the LIKE button & share it to extend its reach and help more people! TIMESTAMPS for convenience:
0:00 Reasons For Installing Rain Barrels In Your Garden
1:51 Selecting A Location
2:19 Leveling The Ground
4:29 Building A Rain Barrel Stand Out Of Concrete Block
8:16 Rain Barrel Diverter Kit
9:43 Rain Barrel Diverter Install
12:40 Rain Barrel Diverter In Action During Rain
13:17 Building A Rain Barrel Array
14:14 Installing Shutoff Valves, Spigots And Male Adapters
17:10 How To Make A Rain Barrel Connector Hose To Connect Multiple Rain Barrels Together
17:38 How To Make A Rain Barrel Link Hose With Hair Dryer Trick!
19:18 Installing Rain Barrel Linking Hose
19:52 Filling And Using Rain Barrel
Will leaves enter the first rain barren that is connected to the down spout? Can you also share where you purchased the barrels?
I have a quick question. Now that you have had this system for a while, how it is working out. Do you need more water than the 2 barrels can hold ? Also I am seeing online white 250 gallon square containers that are sitting in a metal frame on FB market place. If you know what I am talking about seeing, my question is do you think the white 250 containers would work even better or not. I'm wondering if the plastic on those 250 containers is not as thick and perhaps less durable. I haven't seen them up close just wondering if you've looked at those.? They are on FB marketplace in Loris or Conway, SC if I remember right. Love this video so much that I've watch twice now as I'm on city water though I'm out in the country in rural Columbus County. I'm thinking seriously on devising this to water my 60x25 and 16x 14 gardens. Lol hope it rains again soon as we are in need here! Hate to bombard you with questions but do you think a water hose attached and gravity fed to my garden will work without a water pump?
I could not find anything in the amazon storefront link for rain water. Please post it again here?
Love the job! This is what I'll be doing. Following your steps. BTW. #2 doesn't really eliminate chemicals. Rain contains almost all the same elements in the city water supply except for maybe fluoride, but it has other junk like barium and lots of aluminum.
Excelente idea con mangueras nunca había visto este sistema de recoger agua con mangueras
Buddy loves you.
This video was an amazing setup guide! Thank you for posting it! Now I need to find the video that has the install for the water pump and irrigation setup ;)
Thank you. I had initially thought I needed a water pump, too, but I was able to feed my entire garden using gravity by adding another layer of cinder blocks. I documented my ENTIRE setup in my playlist here, and I urge you to see if you can design a gravity-fed setup first before you go through the trouble of a pump: ua-cam.com/play/PL1gY7BoYBGIHHHsx0JPcYgD4xXzA96usL.html
You can stack the blocks 5, 6, 7, 8 blocks high if you want, so you can definitely create some head pressure if designed right from the start.
@@TheMillennialGardener Thank you so much for this helpful information. I will def need a pump for my setup. I will need to push it up a 20ft gradual incline hill to get to my garden area unfortunately. You wouldn't be able to recommend a pump by chance would you?
Great Videos BTW. Your ideas have been invaluable to my backyard gardening.
Quick Question: How do you prevent your rain barrels from freezing up during the cold winter months?
I'm in the process of installing mine, but worried about it freezing over.
Hope you see this question, as your video was created 2yrs ago
Thanks. Nice video. I also like the upper barrel as an emergency (filterable) fresh water supply for emergencies (i.e. SHTF, etc.).
Yes, I read toxicity from shingles might not be extensive.
Great video, look forward to getting started
Awesome now I have to get going with rain barrels 👍🏻
Thanks for watching!
We've got 4x 50 gallon barrels installed right now...but we have 3x 200 gallon barrels to install soon. We have paver pads installed and the overflows are already plumbed. FYI you might have to thoroughly clean your barrels seasonally if you're using fertilizer to prevent algal buildup. Especially important if you're using drip. The emitters are really finicky with clogging (we're using a whole house water filter and softener to cut down on hard water deposits). I've had good luck with using a pressure washer to blast gunk out of barrels (especially those in the sun).
I imagine in your climate, saving every drop of water you get is critical. How much rain do you get annually? I intend to use mostly drip tape, and the majority of fertilizer that I will be mixing in these barrels will be soluble. I intend to use mostly MiracleGro equivalent with micronized azomite and fish emulsion, so I'm hoping that will help keep algal growth down. But yes, I would expect that eventually. I intend to use more drip tape than emitters, but I'm still up in the air. The good thing about emitters are they cost a couple pennies a piece, so I don't intend to use them beyond a season.
@@TheMillennialGardener We get maybe 14" of rain on an "average" year. I've got a mix of drip line (6 or 12" spaced emitters) and discrete emitters. I think single emitters can be ok for small shrubs or plants, but I find the drip line is fairly easy to put in rings or spirals for small trees and get good coverage. Once our trees get to full size I might have to re-evaluate, drip line spiraled over a large area would probably be too many emitters. Probably some 1/8" mainline out to emitters in a wedge sort of layout would probably be best. I haven't experimented with drip tape for vegetable beds, currently using 6" (or 12") spaced drip line depending on how dense the plants are in a bed.
It'll be interesting to see what your experience is running nutrients through emitters. Might be worth considering doing some water only cycles through the system to try and keep stuff from accumulating over a season (i.e. mineral deposits). If you start getting algae in your barrels, usually it can clog just about anything (including standard sized hose bibs). Might be worth having an in-line filter that you can clean out just to check, I'd hate to have some of your mainline get clogged.
Excellent! Articulated very well. Thanks for sharing.......
You’re welcome! Thanks for watching!
I've recently obtained a couple of totes. 1 - 275 gal, 1- 315 gal.
Gonna get serious!
Thanks for watching! Good luck!
A rain barrel can easily be filled from the bottom up using the same bib used to draw the water. Theoretically, if you place your gutter diverter higher than the top of your rain barrel, and connect a water tight feed line to the outlet, your barrel fill from the bottom up using gravity. You probably need a breather hole on your last barrel to let air escape as barrels fill and empty but most IBC totes have a breather in their cap. A single tote would replace all your barrels.
Hi - I used all of your advice. Very helpful! I purchased a drip irrigation package with the fittings for 8 raised beds and it had all the parts except for a few that you recommended the backflow preventer and the pressure regulator so I got those in addition. What I found was that I needed 2 backflow preventers, one at the hose end and one at the rain barrel end. If there wasn't one at the rain barrel, water flowed back into the barrel. And I also found that I could water my beds using just the rain barrel if I connected a backflow preventer to the barrel's spigot. However, it leaks at the backflow preventer so I don't know what to do about that.
This is great thank you. I have a similar setup flowing into the second barrel but sometimes the rain pushes itself out of the crack in the screwed lid. I wonder if the additional pressure in your barrel #2 (due to height) might have the same exploit due to higher pressure. One though I’ve been considering is having an overflow at the top of the second barrel that feeds back into the downspout. I love the idea of adding fertilizer, thank you for that.
Good video just a tip, when adding the attachment to the gutter, for a filter use lady’s tights cut up ( panty hose I this it’s called in U.S.A )
I can see you don’t live in Arkansas, no soil, just rocks......love the videos.
Is Arkansas rocky? I thought *most of it* was pretty flat outside of the Ozarks. I assume you're in the more mountainous region? I live 9 miles from the ocean, so it's as flat as a pancake, here. My driveway is the closest thing to a "hill" around these parts.
Super cool and great job! Thank you for all the good info, I've been looking for a Diverter system
This one is top notch! It's been really successful for me so far. Thanks for watching!
Excellent tutorial and perfect timing for me as I plan my rain barrel irrigation. We don't get enough rain, so I am buying an inline garden hose filter to fill the barrels to irrigate. Since I don't have power that far from my house, I have to depend upon gravity. Annyway, this gives me some great info for planning and installing. Thanks!
I'm going to try gravity, but I think I'm going to need a transfer pump. People hook small fluid transfer pumps to marine batteries (like car batteries), and they can last years. They're also rechargeable. Something to consider.
@@TheMillennialGardener OK. The wheels are spinning. A solar battery would be perfect if I could find something affordable. I also have drainage issues and would love to pump that to the back yard... working out the logistics with height difference, but a pump may be the solution. Thanks.
Ryobi makes a 18v battery powered water transfer pump with 3/4" fittings so you can use your garden hoses. It's great when there is no power around. Good luck out there.
Joanie, it's been a year since you wrote, but I wanted to mention that I use these blue in-line water filters that are meant for RVs to filter water going into their water tanks. Made for hose fittings and WAY cheaper than most of the filters that are sold specifically for garden use. Been doing that a few years now for all my garden hoses. Shopped carefully this year and got a box of 6 quality filters for a very good price. Being able to water without chlorine (and a lot of other horrid stuff) makes me so happy. This year I upgraded to all food-safe hoses too. All best wishes.
I like your rain barrel system.
Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for watching!
Hello, good video with always an interesting topic. I dream of a big yard, maybe later this year or next. I imagine many things like you do and I wait for the next video.
Thanks for the videos.
Thank you for watching. I appreciate it. If you can get more land, definitely do so. I'm the happiest I've ever been since moving out of an urban setting to a more rural area with more land. If that's your dream, go for it!
I thing i would say, when you fit the diverter into the pipe from the gutter, the barrel will try to fill to level with it. So if you install it slightly below the top of the barrell nothing will ever leak out of the barrell. Im sure the thread on his barell can seal, but its imposible to leak regardless if its slightly below.
Best - ROFL - UA-cam movie of the day... I guess he never had a physics class...
Very professional rain barrel installation. It's clean, it's modern, doesn't look amateurish like you see with many attempts online. You even thought of the galvanization that occurs between different metal joining pieces. Only question is, if you can safely mix fertilizer into the lower rain barrel? Will it react with the plastic barrel material? (I doubt it, it would be a very weak mixture).
Had to subscribe to this channel.
I doubt it, because it's made of the same material as my watering cans 😂 It's all HDPE. HDPE is very resistant to chemicals and is pretty non-reactive. That's why it is used so often in industrial settings. We use HDPE conduit and HDPE jacketed cable in electrical applications frequently because of its corrosion resistance (I'm an electrical engineer, so I'm very pro-HDPE). Thanks for your sub. I really appreciate it!
My friend it is a cool idea, I like it. 👏👍🇺🇲
Good work brother.
Thanks for watching!
I love your work thank you
I've never installed a rain barrel but am assuming the lids are sealed? I have some understanding of designing water systems both from my engineering background and as an aquarium hobbyist designing filtration/water management. I have been wracking my head to the purpose of the top green hose other than for a breather. I'm pretty confident that's what it's being used as, assuming the lids are sealed and there's no other breather vent. Air is being displaced by the water filing the second barrel, traveling into the first barrel and then out through perhaps the downspout diverter? With a sealed system with no top hose, you end up compressing the air left inside the second barrel. At some point you reach an equilibrium between the pressure of the trapped air on top and the head of water from the first barrel, and can't fill it up all the way hence some of the comments.
I'm not sure I understand what pressure you are referring to in your comments and how it differs from gravity. Pressure in this setup is directly related to head (how high the water is) which is ultimately governed by gravitational potential energy. The 1st barrel will fill and once the water level reaches the bottom hose, the second barrel will begin to fill. Assuming there is no trapped air, the water levels in both barrels should always be equal in height from the ground. Then once the 2nd barrel is full, it will stop filling and the first barrel will just fill to the top from the downspout until it's full and the downspout diverts. Or the second barrel will overflow a vent if not sealed.
Perfect ! Why wouldn’t you want this set up ??? It’s excellent Dale will still require being squirt at with the hose
Poor Dale HATES water. When we take him to daycare, all the other pups play in the pool but he won't go near it. We've tried taking him to the beach, too. He hates water. Poor guy.
@@TheMillennialGardener Poor guy.You might have to get in a pool and see if he will come in by you .No squits from the hose for sure!
@@Mark4WorldPeace when we took Dale to the beach last year, I walked into the water and he about had a heart attack like I was going to be washed away forever. He tried so hard to run into the water and save me, but he couldn't manage to get any more than his paws in. He tried 😂
Excellent tutorial! Thank you.
You're very welcome! Thank you for watching!
Thank you for sharing your knowledge!!! Something that i want to have in my vegetable garden.
Thanks for watching! I'm glad it was helpful.
It's good idea especially if a storm comes and you need water to flush toilets.
Really clear presentation. Thanks!
Glad it was helpful! Thank you so much for watching!
Great setup
Thank you!
If the lids on your lower barrels are not sealed water tight then it is impossible for your setup to completely fill all three barrels unless you isolate them individually. Water will always reach a natural level in a vented system, its the principle by which a hose water level gauge used by builders operates by, its also basic physics. Put the three barrels at the same level and connect them with a hose at the base and they will fill evenly and completely, if you require a head of water for pressure then set all three barrels higher.
Both barrels fill completely. It is very simple. I leave both connector hoses on, and that fills up the bottom barrel 100%. When the bottom barrel is filled, I turn off the top connector hose. Both barrels are completely filled to the brim as we speak.
I agree. Everything said about transferring between the barrels and isolating the left-hand one still works with the barrels at the same height. Equal height makes it unnecessary to close the top connector hose manually in order to top off the right-hand barrel, and makes the top connector redundant, as you said.
Regardless of heights, chemicals added to the left-hand barrel will diffuse to the right-hand one any time the barrels are connected. If you don't want that to happen, you have to drain all the liquid from the left-hand side, and rinse that barrel, before connecting them again. You effectively cut in half your collection capacity any time you add chemicals to one of the barrels.
Finally, with the downspout connector so far above the barrel water level, the barrels will overflow and the water will never back up the fill tube far enough to stop the diverter action.
@@bucc5207 I think if we use two barrels raised to equal heights (for downstream drip pressure), you can simply use a lower connector hose. Then when you want to add nutes solely to the left barrel, you can close off the right barrel via the shut-off valve. Disburse your nutes from the left, then rinse as you said, then open the valve so the two barrels equilibrate at about 50/50 ready for the next rain - same as if I had watered with 50% of the water as plain water. I'm hoping I'm understanding, you, yes?
Great video!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Es una idea fantastica. Gracias el video y la explicación es clara y fácil de entender. Muchas gracias.
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching!
This was amazing!
THAT is a very good video.
Thank you!
great video thanks for posting !
You're welcome! Thanks for watching!
Hi I have a question about the shingle roof, is it ok to collect water for the garden off of the shingle roof? I just set up a rain barrel and didn't take it into consideration beforehand so im hoping you have good news!
Awesome vid!!
Thank you!
I did even better. My local dairy farm had 8 plastic barrels the same size to get rid of. I then put on on every down pipe from my house, workshops garage and garden sheds. Just neede to buy the taps and some plastic piping to divert each down pipe. Yes, a very good idea and a good video. Get the tap high enough to get a watering can under.
Awesome. A project to try.
I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Excellent video, explanation and demonstration! Apologies if you've answered any of my confusion in other comments/questions over the years. I like the idea of avoiding lead, but why would this matter in a short section of hose going to a barrel for mixing fertilizer? Not like the water coming off your roof into a gutter and through the downspout is very potable, no? Is your fertilizer food-safe, and is lead (or unfiltered rain water) a concern for watering fruits and vegetables? Next confusion is about connecting sealed barrels and vented ones. Is there much difference in pressure with different barrel heights? I can see the second barrel filling up more if the first barrel is higher (and the first barrel draining more) when they are both connected at their bottoms. Final confusion is about the height of the diverter if either barrel is vented. If the diverter is higher than the vent, water will spill out of the vent and never back up to the diverter and out the downspout, no? Sorry for my confusion, welcoming any clarity, thanks!