The weather these days is so unpredictable that drought can even hit water catchment countries. For the rest of us, just get prepared for the rainy days. To prevent flooding of the yard or basement, rainwater collection in rain barrels just might be the solution. Don\’t take it as a waste of effort as these waters can be used to water plants or wash vehicles without needing to turn on the tap and paying the bills later on.
One of the best ways to capture rain water is to collect it from the downspout after the water is channeled through the rain gutters on the roof. The main star is the rain barrel but you\’ll still need some supporting tools to engineer the inlet and outlet flow of the water. Here, a good size for a regular household is a fifty-gallon barrel and you\’ll also need a pipe, hose and hose connector. Where to get a barrel? You can either convert a wine barrel into one or buy a ready made one from the store.
This is what you need to do:
Step 1. Locate the standing of the rain barrel
Make sure that the barrel stands below the downspout so that there\’s a perfect fit to maneuver the water to the opening on the top of the barrel.
Step 2. Make adjustments
Just as the phrase perfect fit was mentioned in Step 1, the opening should be in the right size with the downspout so that the amount of down pouring water is just right to fill up the barrel.
As for the outlet of the barrel, drill a side hole around one or two inches from the bottom of the barrel. This hole will be threaded with a pipe.
Step 3. Clean the barrel
This is an important step before you attach the other features to the barrel. Get rid of all the debris that could stick on the inside of the barrel when you were drilling the hole. This is to prevent water contamination.
Step 4. Cover the opening of the barrel
To keep the debris from entering the barrel, fit a piece of wire mesh and should be positioned between the downspout and opening top of the barrel.
Step 5. Fix the pipe
Before the pipe is fitted into the outlet hole you drilled just now, thread the single end of the Y hose onto the pipe. This hose can be used for watering and spraying.
Step 6. Take extra precaution
If you are using only one rain barrel for your storage, it\’s advisable to make a runoff when the barrel is overfilled with water.
To do this, drill another side hole approximately two inches from the top. This hole will be used to fit a hose connector for the runoff.
Last but not least, if you want to increase your storage size, attach another barrel to the main barrel through a connector by using the hole drilled for the runoff mentioned in Step 6.
Additional Reading:
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