My husband is so awesome! I printed off the directions on How to Make Your Own Rainbarrel and he adapted them to make one for me!
I purchased this 33 gal. garbage can and a roll of screening material as part of a Home Depot trip using a Gather.com gift card. My husband drilled a hole near the top of the can and one near the bottom. The one on the top is in case of "overflow" which will be highly unlikely:-) He inserted and caulked a grooved faucet with an on/off lever on it to dispense the water, either by attaching the hose to it or by filling a watering can or pail.
We rolled out the screen material, cut and then stapled it around the edge of the can. We trimmed the screen to about 1" wider than than the top of the can. The screen material will keep debris from the downspout out of the rain barrel and will also keep insects out of the standing water. 
We can easily clear off the screen after each rain fall by removing the lid and cleaning off the screen.
Then my husband sawed off the downspout behind our garage so he could attach this flexible elbow and reattached the downspout to the garage.
He put the top on the garbage can and cut a hole in the top for the flexible elbow so the water would be directed into the can.
Finally, we placed the rain barrel on top of three cinder blocks so we can fit a watering can or bucket under the spigot.
Now all we need is some rain!
recommend this
email
print
link to this page
Comments: 19
Rob, I had considered doing what your grammy did - dip out the water. Here in Richmond we can have problems with West Nile spread by mosquitoes - which breed in standing water. That's the main reason we opted for the screen, but also to keep leaves etc. out of the rain barrel - we have tons of tall trees in our yard;-)
The cost to make the rain barrel: $14 for garbage can on sale, $7.99 for screen material (about 50 feet or so), roughly $6.00 for the spigot with on/of lever and $7.99 for the flexible "elbow."
That's $35.98 - we expect to save at least that much on our water bill this summer. Also, the least expensive rain barrel I priced was $129! (not including tax and shipping)
I always put out my sons' sand buckets to collect water, whenever it rains, but I always have to use it by the next day b/c of mosquitoes. I think the net is an excellent idea.
I also had a large property just outside of Atlanta. I had a 550 gallon fuel oil tank in the basement that I used for graywater. Through 7 years of severe drought and water restrictions, I had the best 1-acre garden in the neighborhood.
10 4 U
Thanks Mary. I think I may try this.