Deluxe Rain Barrel

The instructions for the Deluxe Rain Barrel are shown below, or can be downloaded in PDF (Portable Document Format) if you prefer. Click here to download the information.

For thousands of years, people have harvested and saved rain water for domestic and agricutural use. The practice makes just as much sense today, when pollution and drought threaten our country's water supplies. Rainwater is "softer" than most tap water, and being free of the chemicals used to treat municipal water supplies, it's better for plants and soil life.

The Deluxe Rain Barrel comes with several attachments to make collecting and drawing water easy:
* A clear plastic overflow tube. This tube hangs inside the barrel by an S-hook in the grill. A 4' to 5' outlet hose with an on/off thumb valve.
* An expandable overflow outlet tube.

The clear plastic overflow tube inside the barrel should arrive already attached to the spigot on the lower inside wall of the barrel. If the overflow tube was dislodged during shipping, remove it from the barrel and immerse the end in hot water for approximately 30 seconds. Then reattach it to the spigot inside.

Assembly
1. Attach the end of the outlet hose to the small (1/4" dia) outlet spigot at the base of the barrel and secure with the small clamp provided. If you have difficulty fitting the hose over the outlet spigot, immerse the end of the hose in hot water for approximately 30 seconds. Then attach it to the outlet spigot and secure with the clamp. The other end of the outlet hose fits neatly into the slot in the top of the barrel.

2. Attach the expandable overflow outlet tube to the large (1-1/4") outlet spigot using the white tie provided.

3. Place the debris screen on top of the barrel.

Dealing with Overflow
The Deluxe Rain Barrel has a 75-gallon capacity. This may seem like a lot of water, but when you consider that a roof area of 1000 square feet sheds 625 gallons in a 1" rainfall, you can just imagine how quickly the barrel can fill up. This is why the barrel is equipped with an internal overflow tube.

When the rainwater reaches the top of the barrel, the water will flow down the internal tube and exit through the expandable outlet tube. Direct the tubing away from building foundations to avoid flooding when the barrel overflows. Here are some other suggestions on how to direct rain water overflows:

Use PVC pipe to extend the overflow outlet and divert the excess water to an existing body of water, cistern, or drain.

Place pieces of slate or a patch of pebbles at the base of the overflow outlet tube to prevent water from washing soil away.

Collect water from a smaller surface area such as the roof of an outbuilding, garage, shed, or playhouse to decrease overflow.

Attach a second RainBarrel to capture overflow by using a Rain Barrel Linking kit.

By doing some basic math, you can determine how much rain water your roof generates. The constant to remember is: 1" of rain will provide 625 gallons of water from a 1000 sq ft roof, or 625 gal/1000 sq ft.

So if your roof is 50 square feet, here's how to estimate the volume to expect from a 1" rainfall: Multiply 625 gal by 50 sq ft and then divide by 1000:625 x 50 = 31250/1000 = 31.25 gal

You can expect 31.25 gallons of rainwater from a 1" rainfall on your 50 square-foot roof.

Drawing Water from the Barrel
The outlet hose attachment is useful for filling watering cans or buckets. It can also be used to drain the barrel by removing the thumb valve. If you know that you'll be filling a tall container or tank, elevate the barrel to take advantage of the gravity feed.

Winter Storage
If you live in a cold climate, drain the barrel and outlet hose completely and place the barrel upside down to avoid freezing and cracking during the winter.

If you have any questions, contact us at: info@gardeners.com