Rain Barrel Basics for Garden and Utility Water

Setting up a rain barrel for watering, washing and flushing. Check your state's rules first.

A 50-gallon rain barrel under a downspout fills faster than you'd think: about 0.6 gallons per square foot of roof per inch of rain.

Check the rules

Most states allow rain barrels, and some limit size or use. Idaho, Colorado and others have specific rules, so look up your state before you buy.

Setup

1. Level cinder-block base (higher means better pressure from the spigot).
2. Downspout diverter with an overflow hose pointed away from the foundation.
3. Screen on top to keep out mosquitoes and leaves.
4. Opaque barrel to limit algae.

Use it for

Gardens, washing tools, flushing toilets during outages. I treat rain barrel water as utility water, not drinking water.

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