If you decide to get a used barrel, make sure that it didn’t formerly contain oil, pesticides, or any other type of toxic substance. It’s too difficult to clean these chemicals from the inside of the barrel, so using them is too risky. If you plan on collecting a lot of water, get two or three barrels. You’ll be able to connect them so they’re all part of the same water collection system, and this way you can have hundreds of gallons of water at your disposal.
1 standard 1-inch hose spigot with ¾-in. pipe threads, so you can access water from your rain barrel. 1 ¾-inch x ¾-inch coupling 1 ¾-inch x ¾-inch bushing 1 ¾-inch pipe thread with a 1-inch hose adapter 1 ¾-inch lock nut 4 metal washers 1 roll Teflon thread tape 1 tube silicon caulk 1 “S”-shaped aluminum downspout elbow, to direct water from your downspout to your rain barrel 1 piece of aluminum window screen, to keep leaves, bugs and other materials out of your water 4-6 concrete blocks
If your downspout empties out onto a concrete driveway or patio that’s situated on a hill, build a level surface by stacking a few plywood boards in the low section so you’ve got a level area on which to set the barrels. If you have more than one downspout on your home, choose to place the barrels near the one that’s closest to your garden, so the water you collect won’t have as far to travel when it’s time to use it.
Skip this if your downspout empties onto a concrete driveway or patio.
This is the standard size for a spigot; if you’re using a different sized-spigot, make sure you drill the right sized hole so that it fits into the side of the barrel.
Follow the directions for attaching the type of spigot you have. You may need to attach it differently than specified here. [5] X Research source
If you have a second barrel to use as an overflow barrel, you’ll need to drill a third hold in the first barrel. Drill it at the same level as the spigot several inches to the side. Then drill a 3⁄4 inch (1. 9 cm)-hole in the second barrel at the same level as the hole you just drilled in the first one. Attach hose adapters to the holes in both barrels as described above. If you’re using a third overflow barrel, the second barrel will need a second hole so you can connect it to the third barrel. Make a second valve on the opposite side of the barrel at the same level. Make a valve in the third barrel as well.
As your measuring and fitting the elbow to the downspout, make sure that the end of the elbow will dip well into the barrel so all the water gets collected there. You don’t want the water to be pouring into the barrel from above.
