How do you have your rain barrel set up?

offtheporch 4/23/2012, 9:54 am

Am going to be fixing up a rain barrel and wondered how some of you have done it. I think some kind of automatic diverter would be nice so that a full barrel would send the water back to the original downspout. But it would be cheaper to just do something with the overflow right out of the barrel (hose?). Just looking for some others' experience on this issue.

Lavender Debs 4/23/2012, 10:24 am

We have two. Ray put a diverter in both of them but is experimenting with an overflow line that goes to the Aquaponic tank. Would really like to avoid flooding near the foundation.

givvmistamps 4/23/2012, 12:01 pm

The rain barrels I've seen in the stores all have a diverter tube near the top that allow the overflow to come out...or allow the barrel to then "feed" a second barrel if you attach the two by that diverter tube. We picked up a recycled pickle barrel, so will have to come up with our own diverter...but we don't have rain gutters on the house so I don't have your option of sending it back to a downspout. That would be nifty.

curio 4/23/2012, 12:55 pm

Diverting the overflow back into the downspout would be easy using an overflow hose (most are attached to the side most of the way to the top) and drilling a hole in the downspout lower than the hose large enough to slide the end of the hose into. I would probably seal that hose in place or thread enough through (maybe a foot?) so it wouldn't slide out.

We have two barrels connected, with overflows on each. However, our barrels are behind our greenhouse, getting their water from the gutter attached to that, so the overflow hoses are directed towards our back garden.

offtheporch 4/23/2012, 3:30 pm

curio wrote:Diverting the overflow back into the downspout would be easy using an overflow hose (most are attached to the side most of the way to the top) and drilling a hole in the downspout lower than the hose large enough to slide the end of the hose into. I would probably seal that hose in place or thread enough through (maybe a foot?) so it wouldn't slide out.

Great idea. I think that is what I'll do. Thank you...and thanks to all that responded.

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How do you have your rain barrel set up?

How do you have your rain barrel set up?

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