Rainwater Catchment Project

We were fortunate to get our hands on these old pvc drums. These were used for chemical sprays for ag applications. They probably held Round-Up or some such thing to be sprayed in the field. These are being phased out for some type of bladder bags, or so I hear. These sat in my garden until I had time to think about how I would like to use them. Many ideas came to mind, but finally I settled on rainbarrels. There are two perfect places next to the house and the rainwater will be perfect for watering my container plants.


Our starting point.


DH cuts the top portion off using a Skilsaw. We used the lip of the red base to run a space bar on to make an even cut around the circumference.

Viola! There's my rain barrel in the back and this top portion looks like it will make a great container for a water garden.

I used Krylon Fusion spray paint for plastic to paint a brick pattern on this one to match the foundation of the house. I didn't like it at first, because the red was not exactly right. Too bright. I thought it looked like a Christmas decoration. I guess it's alright.

We also put a spigot in each one. I usually just dip my water can in the top, but it's nice to be able to empty it with a hose if I want to. If we are getting a lot of rain, I run the hose out to one of our new trees to keep the barrel from overflowing.

The finishing touch was fish for mosquito control. One barrel has feeder goldfish and the other has Gambusia, otherwise known as 'mosquito fish'. Surprizingly, the goldfish seem to do a better job of gobbling up those larvae.