Learn how to make a rainwater collection system to harvest rainwater for under $50!
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Creating a rainwater collection system can have many benefits for your garden and can help you reduce water usage. Rainwater carries more nutrients than treated tap water, and doesn’t cost you extra. Here is how we set up our first rainwater collection barrel for under $50. You can also easily turn this setup into two barrels off of one downspout super easily.
preparing
The first step in setting up rain barrels is to find an appropriate receptacle. We got ours off of Facebook Marketplace from a small business that used them to store barbeque sauce. Not only was this cost effective at $10 per barrel, but it gave the barrels a second life! It’s also important to ask what was stored in the barrel so that you know what could be getting into your water. If they were previously used to store hazardous chemicals, they might not be a good choice to hold water that goes into the plants that we eat.
Once said receptacle is obtained, it’s time to get ready to assemble. Choose a spot for your rain barrel that is close enough to whatever you plan to utilize it for. The type of rainwater collection highlighted here gathers water from a gutter downspout. In our case, we chose the back corner of our shop building. This corner has a downspout already, and is a short distance from our garden. Prep the site by creating some kind of platform. The elevation will help with water pressure out of the spigot and help keep your barrel in good condition. We used extra cinder blocks we had laying around.
installing your rainwater collection system
Next, attach the rain barrel to the gutter. We purchased a kit from Earthminded at Menards that came with everything needed to finish the rain barrel. It came with a diverter, flexible tubing, hole saws, and the spigot. I would recommend this because it’s a one-and-done method for setting up a rainwater collection system. Earthminded sells a variety of kits, including ones that allow for the connection of several barrels off of one downspout.
To attach the barrel to the gutter, we drilled a hole in our gutter downspout using the hole saw bit that came with the kit. Then we screwed in the diverter that fits inside of the drilled hole. There is a flexible hose coming off of the diverter that also gets attached to the barrel. We drilled a hole in the barrel near the top and inserted this hose along with a rubber seal.
The last hole that we drilled was on the front bottom of the barrel to create a spot for the spigot. This should be placed near the bottom of the barrel to help with pressure and to make sure that you can get most of the water in the barrel out. Insert the spigot from the kit along with a rubber seal to make sure that each hole is properly covered.
With the diverter, connection hose, and spigot installed, our rainwater collection system is complete!
You can also see that we have a second barrel right next to our existing one waiting to be hooked up. Since the roof of this building is so large, the single barrel fills up rather quick. We plan to hook up a second barrel using a kit from Earthminded to maximize water collection.
winterproofing
Rainwater collection systems will need to be winterized in most climates. We live in a frigid zone 5b in the midwest, so to store our rain barrel in the winter, we simply exchange the diverter for the included cover and take the barrel and hose into our garage after draining all the water. You could also cover the barrel in place after draining the water. The most important part is removing all water from the system to avoid freezing and cracking over the winter. Covering or storing your system will also help ensure longevity.
should I filter my rainwater collection system?
You may be wondering if this water should be filtered prior to use. I would recommend putting some sort of simple screen like filter either at the barrel or within your gutter system. This can help keep out larger debris that may come with rainwater like rocks, sticks, or chunks of dirt. We plan to put a filter over the top of our downspout, which will be easier to clean out vs rigging some sort of filter in the rain barrel hose. Either way, consider ways to prevent debris from entering your rainwater collection system.
what can I use collected rainwater for?
Many things! The main thing we use it for is watering the garden (check out our homestead garden!). This has proven to be a big help for us as our garden consumes a lot of water, and we don’t have any hose spigots near the garden. Installing this collection system has allowed us to save time and effort in getting ample water to our garden. You may also find it useful for giving to livestock like chickens. If you are planning on giving the water to animals, I would recommend doing a simple water test first to make sure that your rainwater doesn’t have anything funky in it. We also find it handy to rinse off outdoor things that don’t require a full scrub down, like shovels or tools.
