Quick and Easy Rain Barrels/Surge Drums

Harvesting rain water for the garden is an important part of just about any permaculture design in Calgary.

I've been sourcing out rainbarrels and find that they all come in around $100 for the basic and up to $200 for something that looks better.

Fancy Pants version for Hollywood movie star millionaires

For my design I don't need to store the water in barrels as I intend to store it in the ground by directing it right through the swales. 
So, instead I chose to put together a surge drum/rain barrel for about $40 (including garbage can) and it works great.

My humble and frugal version that holds about half of the one shown above

First step is always to see what is actually available on the site that could be used. 

I found 4 discarded Roughneck plastic garbage cans in the back yard that had been left behind by a series of previous tenants. 
They must have had some garbage issues because there was a lot of it in the backyard and none of it in the gabage cans.
There were also three hoses that worked.
Great Start!

Two of the garbage cans had lids and I used those to make composters (next blog). 
Getting replacement lids is not difficult nor expensive and I'll wait and see if they are needed to keep debris out of the surge drums.  So far it hasn't been a problem.

I fitted the lidless cans with inexpensive plastic faucets, a couple of rubber washers, and a lock nut.   $14
I found the plastic faucet at Canadian Tire. $12

It took a 3/4 inch spade bit for the hole in the garbage can and an Exacto or Olfa blade to cut a larger hole in the washer.
You might not even need washers but I used them and trimming the washer was easy.
The faucet will thread (screw into) through the 3/4 inch hole. Put the second rubber washer on and the lock nut ( $0.79 and $1) and that's it.







I have a hose connected to mine and it directs the water to the garden

The barrels work best up on stands to provide gravity force and the faucet hole should be just a couple of inches (2) from the bottom. 

Keep in mind that the faucet connects to a hose and you will need a stand to provide clearance for the hose. Be advised, plastic buckets are better for vermipods or growing upside down tomatoes more than they are as a stand for your drum.

Figuring it out

I had to rejig the downspout in order to have the drum in a more discreet location. I didn't need to use any new parts but I did have to cut one of the lengths of downspout.

This above pic was very early in the process and you can see that I have the hose acting as a siphon. 

It worked but was a little finicky and would stop flowing easily.

Final

You will also note that the finished drum is no longer on an upside down plastic bucket.  I picked up as great molded plastic stand at Value Village for $6

We had a lot of rain and the drum did a great job of getting that water to the garden and not spilling around the foundation of the house.

From the roof

Direct delivery into the swale

Filled

I can still use the drums to store water for a brief period if desired.

Unless there is rain forecast, I like to close the faucets, fill the drums at night, and use the water the next morning to water the beds.  It allows for the chlorine in the tap water to go away and isn't around long enough for mosquitos to breed in.

The faucet allows me to reduce to flow to a drip and a full barrel will empty in about 3-4 hours at that rate.

Connecting a series of them would very easy and I may add another barrel to allow me to drip feed longer.

So there it is.

The total cost was under $30 for two surge drum/rain barrels.

(I didn't have to buy any Roughneck garbage cans which I think are about $25-30 new.)

Finding used garbage cans (without holes) might be a challenge but any large sturdy plastic container will do.

Get a drill and get creative.

Next: fast and easy composters.