Rain barrel question

martha 6/24/2011, 11:10 am

I love my rain barrel. I use mine to store leftover water from the restaurant - water pitchers at the end of the night, melted ice in wine buckets, etc.

So, my barrel is at least 3/4 full. It has two spigots - top and bottom. (I"m not sure how the top one is supposed to work - if the barrel was full, it wouldn't take long to get below the spigot. :scratch:

But my real question is the lower spigot. It doesn't get enough pressure to be useful. If I pour directly from the spigot, it is very slow - and extremely impractical since the spigot is about two inches from the ground. The barrel came with a short hose, but the only way there is enough pressure to get a very slow trickle is to lay the hose flat on the ground. Of course, I don't garden flat on the ground! I have SFG boxes - and the incline is too much for the low pressure and no water will come out.

Help!

dianamarie03 6/24/2011, 11:27 am

Try putting the barrel up on some cinder blocks or some type of platform. That should help with the flow and you could fit a watering can under it too that way.

boffer 6/24/2011, 11:32 am

WAG: the top spigot is an overflow. You could put a hose on it to the ground so it wouldn't make a big mess. Or, the top spigot could be connected to a second barrel so the overflow of the first barrel would begin filling the second barrel.

Most pictures of rain barrels that I've seen have the barrels sitting off the ground, maybe 18 inches or so. The little bit of extra height gives a little more pressure, and gets the spigot up higher than the output of the hose.

Be advised: I've never used one! Wink

martha 6/24/2011, 1:02 pm

Was Shrek the first on to say, "It's not easy being green"?

Now I have to lift my rain barrel - WHILE IT'S FULL! Yikes! affraid

westie42 6/24/2011, 1:19 pm

A photo if possible would go a long ways in giving you good advice.

pattipan 6/24/2011, 1:24 pm

martha wrote:Was Shrek the first on to say, "It's not easy being green"?

Now I have to lift my rain barrel - WHILE IT'S FULL! Yikes!

Empty the water first!!! Water your garden well, put as much as you can in buckets and then empty it. A 50 gallon rain barrel weighs over 416 pounds!

pattipan

boffer 6/24/2011, 1:28 pm

westie42 wrote:A photo if possible would go a long ways in giving you good advice.

Trust me, Westie. Based on past promises to post pictures, we'll be waiting till Christmas for Martha to post a picture! Maybe she can give a yeah or nay on this one. Spigots high and low.

Rain barrel question Images10

westie42 6/24/2011, 1:39 pm

I am living evidence of no photos. Need to find the charger for my camera because I could send a lot of them just from my Ipod alone but figuring out how to upload them is something I have not gotten around to yet it's a mystery that puzzles me. That would make a good Friday rookie topic.

pattipan 6/24/2011, 2:46 pm

Another idea would be some type of pump. Someone in another thread mentioned a "pony pump."

https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t5744p45-watering-from-rain-barrels#67906

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Rain barrel question E5jqURR-x3eVmpXnZ2V-m5j0cOOXDFC8doVZF-6F6TlXTvncXAj8UDyVtj44pidZ8WWNu55YQLBPXwAdCQB1_eSWgRlN4Fmyc1lfj51qFB5yQksd6k1gLmFN7au3HTVFFfn0w9-4Cr0VeayklP74F_WZ0zfASGkaQp1nQPyvnRsV1g8

I've also read about folks are using portable sprinkler pumps with their rain barrels. They kind of look like the pony pump, but are more heavy duty. An think now you can get solar powered pumps that sit on top your rain barrel. Might be worth looking into if you have the $$$.

pattipan

**walshevak** 6/24/2011, 2:50 pm

martha wrote:Was Shrek the first on to say, "It's not easy being green"?

Now I have to lift my rain barrel - WHILE IT'S FULL! Yikes!

Actually it was Kermit the Frog.

Kay

TN_GARDENER 6/30/2011, 8:11 am

I built a "table" for my barrel. Works nice.

I also use a 5 gallon bucket and a fountain pump to irrigate. Works pretty good.

martha 6/30/2011, 9:01 pm

Why, Boffer, you know how sensitive I am. Now my feelings are hurt and I won't be able to post photos for another few months, since I won't be able to see through my tears! Rain barrel question 675916

I mean, just because I post a question and then don't check in for 6 days, is that any reason to accuse a poor girl of procrastinating about posting photos?

So tomorrow, I will photograph the rain barrel, and while I am posting it, maybe I will post the photos of my SFG's that I took, um, two weeks ago. Embarassed

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