Rain Barrel Common Questions

A rain barrel collects and stores rainwater from roofs that would otherwise be lost to runoff and diverted to storm drains, streams and rivers.

It Saves You Money - A rain barrel can save most homeowners about 1,300 gallons of water during the peak summer months which not only protects the environment, but saves you money and energy with decreased demand for treated tap water.

Reduces Stormwater Pollution - Rainwater stored in rain barrels helps reduce the amount of stormwater runoff and the amount of pollutants that are picked up and carried to storm sewers, streams and rivers.

Conserves Water - Lawn and garden watering make up nearly 40% of total household water use during the summer. A rain barrel collects and stores water for periods of drought.

Better for Plants and Gardens - Rainwater is naturally soft water, devoid of minerals, chlorine, fluoride, and other chemicals. This makes it ideal for watering gardens, flowers, washing windows and cars.

These are USED food grade barrels.  They will have some scuff marks and scratches from shipping and handling.  Each barrel is inspected, cleaned, and modified.  There are no significant scuffs or scratches which would harm the structural integrity of the barrel and lead to any leakage. The spigot is installed on the nicer looking face of the barrel.

• Calculate the square footage of your roof (width x length [floor in feet] = catchment area [square feet])
• Harvested Water (Gal) = Catchment Area (sqft) X Rainfall Depth (inch) X Conversion Factor (0.623)
• For example, let's pretend your square footage is 2,000 sq. ft. (the size of the average Southern California home), and it rains 1 inch.
• 2000 x 1 x 0.623 = 1246 gallons for 1" of rain.

For Southeastern Michigan, we may consider putting a rain barrel or two at each downspout. Consider these examples for if each downspout diverts from a 50x60 ft (300 sqft) roof section. Average daily rain water can range from .01 inches per rain event to 3 inches or more for extreme storms, based on 2021 data. Here's a snapshot of these rain events converted to rain diverted for a 300 sqft portion of a roof:

• 0.01 inches of rain - 19 gallons
• 0.1 inches of rain - 187 gallons - roughly 56 days over 0.1 inches*
• 0.33 inches of rain - 617 gallons - roughly 28 days over 0.33 inches*
• 3 inches of rain - 5610 gallons - about 3 days over 3 inches*

* Number of days within March-October with rainfall over the indicated amount is calculated from the NOAA Online Weather data for Ann Arbor, MI in 2021. 

• The simplest tool to calculate gallons diverted by your roof (as outlined above), is the USGS.gov "How much water falls during a storm?" calculator. 
• For local historical weather data, including precipitation averages, this NOAA Online Weather Data tool on Weather.gov provides numerous reports. One useful report can be the following: 1. Choose your location. 2. Product - choose "Calendar Day summaries" 3. Options - year range or 2021. Variable - precipitation. 4. Click "Go".  
• The EPA.gov National Stormwater Calculator provides interactive maps to better understand climate patterns and storm water runoff factors at your home/location. 

Yes. The City of Ann Arbor offers credits toward City resident’s stormwater rate bills for reducing the impervious areas of their residential property.

Credits are available for:

• Making your home a RiverSafe Home partner 
• Installing Rain Barrels on your downspouts 
• Creating a Rain Garden, Cistern, or Drywell​

To learn more about the stormwater rates and credits visit the City of Ann Arbor Systems Planning Department “Stormwater Rates and Credits” webpage.

See the WCCD online store for latest pricing and availability of rain barrels and accessories.

• Automatic Diverter is available for connecting rain barrels to downspouts.  When it rains, some water will flow from the diverter, through the hose to the barrel and some water will also continue to flow down the lower section of the downspout.  When the rain barrel is full, then all the water will flow down the downspout. A 55 gal. rain barrel will take about 1 hour to fill with a Diverter installed (15-20 minutes without).  Using the Diverter eliminates the need for an overflow hose to be connected to the barrel and routed to an overflow location.  Fits downspouts up to  3" X 4", hose included. Installation instructions also provided.
  Downspout Diverter Installation Instructions (PDF)
• Linking Hose for connecting multiple barrels together to be filled from one downspout. 
• Pedestal Riser made from 100% recycled lumber. No pressure treated lumber is used. 

See the Rain Barrel Information & Instructions page!

The lids screw on and hold the cap in place in some models. On rare occasion, the lids and screen are held on with a galvanized (won't rust) lock ring.
 

The screen is to keep mosquitoes and debris out while letting the water flow freely into the barrel.

Acetal plastic spigot for the faucet and poly fittings for the linking and overflow hoses.

To water from your rain barrel you can use a garden hose, landscape tubing (just drill holes into the tubing near the plant) or drip tubing.  You will not be able to run a sprinkler or a soaker hose from the rain barrel.  But as long as you are not trying to go up hill you can go any distance from the barrel you need to, water seeks its own level, so it will always be flowing to the lowest level the hose is at.

You can water hanging pots with a garden hose.  Start with the hose on the ground then lift it to the plant, it will have enough pressure to water 2-3 pots.  You need to lower the hose to get the pressure back to water additional hanging pots.

It is advised to clean them annually, a good Rain Barrel Maintenance guide is provided here.

The barrels are meant to be left outside during winter.  You do not need to remove the fittings for winter.  Plastic fittings are used because brass and steel do not interface well with plastic barrels.  These items expand and contract at a different rate, which is the major cause of other manufacturer's barrels leaking in a short period of time.  The only thing you need to do to prepare for the winter season is to drain all the water out, remove the linking fitting cap, and open the spigot so water drains during the winter. (If the barrel fills with water and freezes it will crack).

The linking fitting allows the user to connect multiple barrels together for even more free water.  The overflow fitting allows the homeowner to direct water away from their home after the barrel is full by attaching a hose to the overflow fitting.  The hose should be directed away from the foundation of the home or structure where the rain barrel is installed.

The barrels are not painted.  If you want to change or enhance the color of your barrel there are two products recommended.  The first is Ace Hardware brand spray paint, and the second is Krylon brand spray paint. Both do an excellent job on plastic and will not peel for years to come.

Where is the best location to collect the water from - a tool shed roof can work as well as a house roof to collect water. A 4' X 8' sheet of plywood that receives ¼" of rain will fill a 55-gallon barrel. Then look at the surrounding area. If you want to put your rain barrel around the corner from where the downspout is, a flex hose can be installed to direct water from the downspout around the corner to the barrel.

All fittings are either pre-installed or shipped inside the barrel and include instructions to install them into the predrilled and threaded holes.

You should build your barrel up about 12" off the ground using the available accessory Pedestal Riser or you can use cinderblock or old landscape timbers-anything that will hold the filled barrel weight of approximately 600 pounds.

Basic installation requires you to cut the gutter 8 inches above the top of the barrel and attach the downspout elbow so it dispenses the water directly into the top of the barrel.  Then attach a garden hose to the overflow fitting on the top section of the barrel so when it is full the additional water can be diverted away from the foundation of your house and keep the water level below the screening.  If you have gutters that go directly into the ground use the Automatic Diverter to hook up your barrel.

You can link 2 or more barrels together using a Linking Hose.  All barrels have a linking hose fitting on the bottom section, just unscrew the cap and screw on the linking hose.  All the barrels will fill with water with only 1 downspout being modified and significantly reduce the amount of water going out the overflow.

Physically the barrels are the same, but have different overflow fittings: The regular barrel is popular and has a small regular garden hose attachment fitting at the top for outflow. The wide overflow differs by having a larger 2" outflow hose included, which connects to a larger PVC pipe. 
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Overflow (filling up and flowing out the top lid) occurs when the downspout provides input into the barrel faster than the barrel has an outflow. Generally, overflow is to be avoided near structure foundations.  However, overflow issues depend on the severity and frequency of rain events, frequency of rain barrel water use, proximity of the barrel to structures, the water catchment area that directs to the downspout, and how the rain barrel receives water from the downspout. General climate and installation considerations are outlined on our Rain Barrel Information page.

If overflow is not an issue at your placement site, then the regular barrel is sufficient, but again this is usually not ideal near a house foundation.
So, to avoid the barrel filling to the point of overflow, the options are:

1. Install a Downspout diverter with a regular barrel, which will fill the barrel slower but ensure the barrel doesn't overflow.
2. Install a wide overflow barrel, often used when the downspout simply directs into the top lid of the barrel. The larger diameter outflow hose will prevent the barrel from overflowing out the top lid in most rain events.  You can use a downspout diverter with a wide overflow barrel, but the diverter reduces the need for the wide overflow. No matter the installation configuration, the wide-overflow barrels further reduce risk of any overflow that can have an adverse affect on nearby structures / foundations. 

See the photos at the top of the page for examples. 

Yes, Upcycle Products rain barrels carry a 5-year warranty on materials and workmanship.  The only way this warranty can be voided is if you leave the barrel out during the winter without opening the spigot and linking hose fitting - if the barrel fills with water and freezes the barrel will crack.

We do sell 275 gallon totes, and often these are used for larger systems for gardens and farms. Additionally we hear from many customers using pumps to increase their pressure output from their water totes/barrels. See the Rain Barrels Information & Instructions page for water catchment systems. Another good resource is from one of our customers and local farms with a multiple tote and pump system.