Well, it’s less of a rain barrel and more of a rain tote – a 250 gallon IBC tote! (IBC: intermediate bulk container). Considering that I have 1,500 square feet of contributing roof surface, I didn’t want to tinker around with 55 gallon rain barrel drums.
An IBC tote comes with very convenient plumbing connections. For example, the screw lid on the top comes with a standard two inch threaded female connection. All I had to do is connect the supply pipe to it with a two inch male schedule 40 connector – and, done!
The tote also comes with what you may call a faucet. A ball valve drain with a spout, and it is even located at the very bottom. Filling up a watering can from a regular faucet eats into your time. But this thing has a flow rate that fills a two gallon watering can in less than ten seconds. I love it.
The only thing that it didn’t have was a plumbing connection for an overflow. I solved that problem with a two inch bulkhead fitting. Because – remember – the supply pipe to a rain barrel should be the same size as the overflow. Two inch supply, two inch overflow.
To fit the two inch bulkhead fitting, I had to drill a three inch hole into a piece of vertical and flat tank wall. That got me below the maximum fill line of the tank. But a couple of elbows got me back to that 250 gallon fill line.
I also included a piece of mosquito screen across the overflow pipe. This way I keep the blood suckers from breeding in my barrel. On the supply side, the screen in the diverter-filter combo keeps the critters out.
Oh yes–and I had to connect the diverter to the rain barrel (or tote) with a couple of elbows and some two inch pipe.
Now, where did I find this beauty – this IBC tote? Craigslist! It came from an industrial cookie bakery and had originally high fructose corn syrup in it. Cost: $75. Sweet, isn’t it?
You appear to have black gaskets around the pvc pipe for the supply and overflow connections. What type of gaskets are these and where did you get them?
Jim, there is no gasket at the supply. Its a simple male PVC fitting that screwed into the provided female fitting of the black lid that came with the tote.
What you describe as a gasket on the overflow is a bulkhead fitting. I purchased it online at http://www.thewatergardener.com/.
Hope this helps.
This is exactly the type of set up we seek!
Marcus thank you so much!! This is what we are wanting to do and you described and did it perfectly! I am hoping to make it a little prettier by either inter twinging sticks in between the metal or just maybe gluing them to the outside but really its about the free water for me! After looking at the expensive rain barrels and none of them are perfect I think this is the one for us!! Thanks for the time it took to do this!