Need Cheap substitute for Rain Barrels

The one rain barrel I have has been overflowing since GA started getting rain about the middle of the month. I feel like all that rain is being wasted! I want it all! Anyway, ever since the drought, everyone and their uncle has been wanting rain barrels. Now the price for one plain old 55 gallon drum has gone to $75+.

Does anyone have any neat tips on substitue barrels or rain catchers? Trick is, they can't be an unsightly sub because I live in a subdivision with covenants and I have one of the only yards where everyone can see just about everything! (I'm growing cedars and shrubs as fast as I can to build a screen!)

I'm posting this question on sever forums hoping to some varied ideas.

Thanks!

What about those large Rubbermaid or Sterilite storage tubs with lids you can get at the dollar stores?

http://journeytoforever.org/compost_worm.html Not bad prices on their barrels. You might also want to check with your local extension office for sources. You do have to be careful of what was in them previously as I'm sure you know. Or those big 30 gal trash cans on wheels might work.

Hey 3gardener; Those Sterilite bins are only 30 gal.They do make Great EB's.
Ten years ago I had a large vegetable garden on an empty lot 3 doors down here in the Venice,Canals.I went to the city Bus yard here in Venice.I asked about buying some Large,Plastic (black) 55 gallon drums that soap comes in for washing Buses.The guy asked me what I wanted them for and when I told him I was making drum composter's he gave me six of them for free.
Now of course I am not saying that they will give them to you for free as well,but it doesn't hurt to ask.I ended up printing a copy of the plans and giving it to him to make them for his own garden.Also Municiple Truck yards use the same soap and they are easy to clean.

The trash cans on wheels don't work, doccat...I tried it. They collapse under the weight of the water! I solved the problem by wrapping the thing in fiberglass/resin, but it wasn't worth the effort in time, work, or money.

I got mine from a car wash. You could always paint a barrel the same color as your house and it would be less noticeable.

3gardeners-
At a recent rain barrel demo our extension recommended checking the local Pepsi distributor for the blue plastic containers. At that same demo there was a lot of discussion re: painting the plastic to make it more aesthetic. One of our MGs is an artist (by profession), and she seemed quite confident the plastic was paintable. I too am up against the same situation with my HOA...perhaps you'll find this thread useful: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/794236/

Edited to add this link: http://www.longwood.edu/cleanva/rainbarrels.htm

And one more edit to mention our local military surplus occasionally has the dark grayish-black ones for sale.

This message was edited Dec 30, 2007 7:45 PM

This message was edited Dec 30, 2007 7:48 PM

I have a new one in the front of my house that I plan to surround with three or four inexpensive, potted shrubs. You can get some really cheap, but large, shrubbery at the big box stores (shhh... I never said that...I try to support my local nurseries but, hey, if you don't care what they look like, only that they hide the barrel, I wouldn't want to pay much for them...). You could also purchase or make the three or four sided fence panel "pens" that they sell to hide trash cans. Home Depot and Lowes both sell them.....

This message was edited Jan 1, 2008 4:47 PM

I plan on using lattice work around mine and planting climbers on it. No lattice should be lonely! LOL

I found a company on craigslist that was giving away plastic and metal 55 gal drums. It was a shirt printing business. They had many many barrels to give away, free. I nabbed 5 of the blue plastic ones. Look in your yellow pages to find a similar company and then call them up and ask. I believe these had some kind of cleaning chemical in them but it wasn't any stronger than say 409 or Fantantisk. I good rinsing out and there you go, a rain barrel.

mel-

Here's my list of places I've found plastic barrels: carwash (soap/wax), any drink bottling plant (coke, pepsi etc), any food plant , grocery store,deli or restuarant that receives bulk items from an international source (oils, olives, pickles, etc--my favorite is mediterranean groceries or delis), any plant that uses an in-place cleaning system (dairies, food plants, bottling plants etc--must make sure to get barrels that contained only biodegradable soaps etc that can be removed with washing).

With international trade, commercial cleaning systems and bulk gourmet food, there are millions of these containers out there, you just have to call and find them. Craigslist is a great source, though people are starting to realize their value. I find them cheaper by simply calling around until you find a place that has to pay to get rid of them. They are only two happy to have fewer to deal with.

You all have given me so many GREAT options to try. I really appreciate it!

Hmmm...I wonder if you could cover the plastic barrels with hypertufa, so they'd look like stone/rock or well, concrete and still be moveable. Could put a drain in them, too. Hmmm.... We have lots of rain now, but none in the summer. I'm always wondering how to save water economically. I tried waterbed mattresses in CO, but the sun destroyed them within one summer. They were fun full for a while. A mess when they started disintigrating.

Ooohhh...hypertufa, now THATS am intriguing idea....Anyone willing to try it and post a pic? Not sure how well it would adhere, but once it dried it shouldn't matter if it has adhered. I think you would have to give it a framework of chickenwire or something similar, however, for stability.

Check out the hypertufa discussion. I'm sure one of the experts can help with that idea!

I think it would work, yotedog and I'd give it a shot if it wasn't raining all the time now. Maybe next month, cause I have at least one can that could be sacrificed to the experiment. I would cover it with chicken wire or perhaps whatever odd pieces of fencing or rebar I have around, since I never toss anything that looks slightly useful, and just tufa the outside and not worry about the inside, I think, and drill a drain hole near the bottom for a piece of pvc or something to hook a hose to. Hmmm...very interesting. Would have to do the bottom after the sides dried and could turn it on end. I was thinking it would need to be done, but eventually the plastic would give from all that weight. Maybe even design it so it could go on a wheeled platform, though I don't think I'd want to move it when it's full. (brainstorming here) Yes, the experts over in hypertufa could help. That's how I started with it, though I'd been hauling around plans for a planter for years and never did it. Their photos and encouragement sent me over the edge.

I've used big boxes, laundry baskets, and especially 5 gallon buckets for forms, all lined with plastic bags. It sticks to the bags, more or less, but builds on itself. Some of my planters are in their third winter now - so far so good.

Got me all excited at the prospect!

Just remember to leave a spot for a spigot in the hypertufa............LOL

right, the hole in the bottom for pvc or something for the hose...or a spigot - I was thinking of what I've got on hand (lots of strange stuff). It's also possible to syphon, and use gravity, but that can be tricky and not so, well, tasty. I had to start water flowing that way in CO.

A fish tank siphon is a "wonderful" thing..not as tasty, but I like it........grin

My barrel from the car wash came with a brass spigot in the lid which I removed and installed near the bottom edge. I then discarded the lid.

The spigot has a threaded end which was inserted through a hole in the lid and a type of lock nut (?) held it in place from the other side of the plastic. I removed the nut and the spigot from the top, drilled a hole (the same diameter as the one in the lid) in the barrel and re-inserted the spigot and put the nut on to hold it in place. To be on the safe side I put a bead of silicone sealant around the hole in the barrel on both the inside and the outside before I tightened the nut to prevent leaking.

The hardest part was tightening the nut on the spigot. I installed it down near the bottom edge of the barrel and it was hard to reach into the barrel that far down. I wound up using a very long wrench to tighten it while DH held the spigot end in place.

Does this make sense? I am not very good at explaining mechanical things and yes, I was a blond. :-)

Good explanation, I got it right away.

I can see it could be hard to get into that can. I got your explanation, too, but wouldn't have any extra hands to hold anything.

Doccat, I forgot about the fish syphon; I knew somewhere in my brain there was a memory of other no so tasty water. I got good at not taking any in my mouth.

6 mil black plastic is not so pricey, easy enough to make a pond of any size for collecting rainwater from a down pipe

Plonk a few waterlilies in it and the surface cover of the lilypads will cut evaporation considerably...

Regards, andy
http://s93.photobucket.com/albums/l42/adavisus/

adavisus, what a wonderful idea! Thank you!

yes, except for mosquitoes when the weather warms again, or dogs using it for a pool.

Well, there are solutions for those problems, although the dogs could be a problem. :)

Dogs are a neverending source of joy - and problems. Here they have their own kiddie pool and 2 wine barrels and they use them!

My Pepsi plant just told me that they "no longer distribute their barrels to the public". There must be $ in it for them. I'll bet they have one person that buys them all and then that person is selling them to the public for a profit. Makes since and is a good idea with this 100 year drought going on in GA.
I bought my house 10 years ago and 7 out of the last 10 years we have been in a drought! (This is year is just the worst yet.)

3Gardeners, on craigslist for Atlanta, someone's been advertising rainbarrels & 55 gal drums for the last week or so. I think it's in the Farm & Garden section.

Actually, there are a couple.....

http://atlanta.craigslist.org/grd/579049651.html
http://atlanta.craigslist.org/grd/578531503.html
http://atlanta.craigslist.org/grd/580247389.html

I was traveling in the southern portion of NC today and was amazed by the number of new ponds I saw under construction. It was a rural area and it seemed like every 1/4 mile there was a backhoe digging a pond. It looks like a lot of folks are trying to catch and save water.

I found a nice instruction sheet on how to transform a basic plastic barrel into a rain barrel (with a spigot and an overflow, etc).

If you got to the attached link, the rain barrel instructions are about half way down the page, on the left. It is a pdf.
http://www.p2pays.org/water/CitizensIndex.asp

These helped me when I wanted to change a $10 plastic barrel into a rain barrel.

miryarose, thanks for the link. Both the rain barrel plans and the "rain garden" plans on that page will sure be useful, especially during this bigtime drought we've been having, eh?

And by the way, WELCOME TO DG! See you around the site!

Shoe

If you're forced to siphon water from a rain barrel but don't like the mouthful of water you might get, there's a way around it. There is a siphon system available at Lowe's, Home Depot, and probably Auto supply stores. It's designed to fit a 5 gallon gas container to siphon gas into tractors, mowers, etc. to avoid spills. The handle is shaped just like a gas pump handle---you squeeze the handle once or twice to get the flow started, and let go of the handle when your container is full. Works great for gas...should work great for water, too.

Also, if you can sink the hose into the water container until it's full of water and pull one end out, the water usually starts-but that's a short hose-have to immediately attach it to another to get anywhere.