Save water from a rainy day by turning 55-gallon food grade drums into rain barrels with Daniel Cunningham from Dallas Texas A&M AgriLife Research Water University.
Well done video. Informative and funny. I would only ask for additional information such as what to do with the rain barrel if you live in a climate when it gets cold such as the Northeast because cracking can occur. I would also add the info of how to add an overflow spout directing the overflow hose to an area awa from the house. I definitely appreciated the humor and again thought the information was very easy to understand and got right to the point. 👍
I have read white barrels allow UV light inside which causes algae to grow. Might be a better idea to use blue barrels or another dark color to block the UV light and avoid contaminating the rain water with algae which would not be beneficial to crops.
0 seconds ago Hi there. Rewatched this vid on CTG again, today. Thx for all the info. I came on to RU-vid to find and save it, for future reference. I think these are a great idea. It may not save all my “monsoon” water, but I figure some is better than none!! Several of these on the property, near where they would be actually used, seems like a possible project for this old gal! 😉 That said, do you have an actual supply list available? I’d like to make sure I don’t forget anything. Thx again!
You know the round plugs on the barrel have the ability to screw in a water spigot. If you don't mind reaching at the bottom if you put it on top of bricks. You just need to drill a hole through it.
It wouldn't allow much water through that way. Mosquitoes can't go through the tiny holes in the screen he's using. It's the same kind as a house and you can open your windows without them getting in...sooo.
No overflow plan? A 55 gallon container might be appropriately sized for a small chicken coop or dog house. Waste of time and space for most houses. Building a rain garden is a much better use of one's time and resources.
Maybe Home Depot, I wasn't able to find it at Lowes a few days ago. But I found the 3/4 water seal conduit connector is much higher quality and haft the price at lowes in the electrical conduit section. www.lowes.com/pd/Gampak-3-4-in-Rigid-Union/3389328 I just finished built two 55 gal yesterday and had a slight .4 inch rain for 10mins and both of my barrels are full.
This definitely needs at least a 2" overflow for Texas, I just finished built two yesterday. Today we have a .4 inch rain in New Orleans similar to TX for less than 10mins both of my barrel is full and my 3/4" overflow shoot out 2.5' from the barrel as I haven't routed the pipe of the overflow yet. This tells me a 1"-1.5" would be sufficient. It's amazing how I can get a 110gal of water for my garden for just 5mins of rain. I tried to leave all my 5gal buckets out when it rains to collect water, so silly we only got about an inch fill in the buckets.
Respectfully, after building thousands of these barrels, there is no practical scenario where an overflow prevents water from spilling over the top of the barrel. In most every situation, taking into account catchment area and the rate of precipitation in a typical rainfall event, the volume of water entering the barrel from the downspout will exceed the capacity of the overflow, thus causing a backup. This system, developed by Texas A&M AgriLife RWH experts, (who wrote the book on RW capture) utilizes a simple yet effective combination overflow/inlet. When placed on a level surface and mulch, gravel or dg is used as an erosion barrier surrounding the barrel, the water simply spills over the top and can be directed away from the catchment area to a rain garden, a nearby tree or wherever the water flowed pre-installation. An overflow hose can however help direct water to a location for supplemental irrigation. (however, it will not deter the previously mentioned backup) In this situation it is important to apply a screen on said hose to deter mosquitos and avoid using clear or corrugated hose to avoid build up of algae or sediment.
Actually, at Texas A&M AgriLife we believe rain barrels are the ULTIMATE water conservation tool! (but rain gardens are awesome too!) With nearly over 20,000 participants in our hands-on rain barrel classes, we teach the benefits of rainwater capture in larger tanks and in the the ground with rain gardens, dry creeks or swales, however to the average homeowner wanting to dip their toes into RWH, that is usually a bit overwhelming ;-) In fact, we call this class our addiction class because SO many folks come back after learning the principals of rainwater capture with their 55 gal drum, and coming back for 2-3 more, and eventually becoming "greedy" with their rainwater-- using every technique possible to save and keep every drop on their property. Initially, most folks don't really have a good understanding of their water supply or their local watershed. The simple but effective 55 gal barrel helps make that connection, driving home the importance of conservation and storm water management.
Why don’t we want those leaking out of our barrel? You get a drop of oil on the ground and it’s an environmental emergency? So insane. Kinda wrecks the vid for me when you say asinine stuff like that.
