50-Gallon Rain Water Collection Barrel with Brass Spigot, Wood Grain

Key installation tips. 0. Don't install the faucet that comes with it, absolutely go get yourself a 1/4 turn faucet and save a ton of headaches. The faucet that comes with it breaks easily and easily clogs. 1. Caulk the spigot. When installing the spigot, line the threads of the barrel with an exterior caulk (Alex or similar). It's cheap. Why do this? Because most of the time (I have 6 of these barrels), the spigot threading gets off a little and you have to back out and rethread it. Then you get a trickle leak which will bleed your barrel dry over a few weeks. With the caulk, and extra extra care to insert the spigot in straight, I get no leaks. 2. Raise it up. I use a few cinderblocks on pea gravel with an ~18x27" 'masterblock' on top. The masterblock looks nice and create a flat surface so that the plastic is well supported. ~20" high is good, as it allows a 5g bucket to go under the spigot (doubles to catch overflow). 3. Put it against a wall. Bowing out is a reality for plastic. I put the back of the barrels against a wall and it's not an issue. 4. Chain them together. For getting more water from a single downspout, you can put two barrels next to one another and cut the little fake handles on the sides down until there is a hole on each barrel at the same level (shave a little off at a time, don't just chop the thing off). Then use a short piece of rubber hose, caulk, and two hose clamps to join the barrels. This way, before the overflow kicks in, water fills the next barrel. Even with all these caveats, these are the nicest looking, easiest to use barrels I've found. I like the simple screen filter on top as I can just divert my downspout to the barrel top without a complicated overflow system. The spigot is hard to install (and often one side breaks off), but works well and none of mine have leaked. An imperfect product that is the best available option in this price range. If you are 3d printer capable, go to Grabcad for a free download of an overflow diverter that will guide the water away from the barrel when it pours out. It's easy to print and install.

Purchased 3 of these plus the stands. Second season of use still looks like new with no fading. Works seamlessly, excellent rain barrel. Easy to use, easy to install. Has helped cut water bill for watering plants and flowers. Will buy 2 more sets in the future to add additional units to help with watering needs. Screen does float when barrel is full so we screwed one side down and that fixed the issue. We also emptied rain barrels before winter, took down and stored upside down under our patio gazebo to protect during the winter months and to prevent from freezing. Left stands in place all winter and no problems there. I would also recommend purchasing mosquito discs for an extra preventative measure even though barrel has screen. Highly recommend, already paid for itself during first season of use from savings on water bill.

You would be hard pressed to find a more attractive water barrel than this one. It looks good displayed outside of your house, especially compared to most of the others on the market. I purchased my first one several years ago, and I can attest to the fact that it does hold up cosmetically without fading. This, in spite of the fact the barrel has been outside 365 days per year over the last several years (here in SC where it doesn't freeze). Overall, the attractiveness of the barrel was critical to me and to a particular HOA, and this one fits that requirement. I also like the fact that it is not a closed barrel system, and that you can clean it out. Closed barrel systems boast that they keep impurities and algae out, although you will find this to be false. All rain barrels collect debris - like asphalt shingle pebbles - plus the summer heat will have the barrel funky in no time. I can't imagine not being about to clean them out at least once per year. Needless to say, you will come in contact with the water, and I like to know it's reasonably clean. I also like to be able to look inside to make sure nothing is in there that shouldn't be. I had a prior experience with a different barrel (Aqua barrel that had a large 3" overflow) where a rat crawled into the overflow flexible tubing & up into the barrel & drowned. Maybe a bit traumatized not knowing how long I was using rat "tea" to water my plants; being able to look in the barrel from time to time is a good thing. The opening is large enough to be able to squirt the garden hose inside & with a soft bristle long handled car cleaner thingy, I can get to most of the inside. A shop vac will clean out the asphalt roof debris in the bottom. Watch for the little green frogs that may be in your barrel. I ended up purchasing two more of these RTS barrels over the last month. All of mine have come with a nice brass spigot, so I don't know what happened with the other reviewers who received plastic ones. Spigots are only a few dollars, so that wouldn't be a deterrent to me. It's true, screwing the spigot into the plastic threaded fitting in the barrel is not picnic, but if you take you time to get it started -straight- it doesn't leak. When you begin to screw the spigot in and see that it is not going in straight, don't keep going. Back it out, and start again until it goes in straight. If you try to force it in crooked, you'll reach a point where the assemble will hit the barrel & won't turn to tighten down far enough. On the negative side, here's the main problems with the barrel: The plastic should be a thicker construction. The barrel will bow out in the back when it gets 3/4 or more full. Mine has been going back pretty much into shape after it empties though. I would leave some space between your house and this barrel, because it will push out & tilt forward. Weighing close to 450 lbs. full, I imagine it would damage something if it tipped over. When the back bows out, it will cause the rectangular screen not to fit properly. When the screen doesn't fit properly, stuff can get down in the water - like mosquitos, bugs, etc. I have just recently started putting the permanently flexible rope caulking roll(Home Depot or Lowes) around the screen frame to prevent these gaps. This seems to help. I plan to write to contact the company about the plastic thickness of their barrels. Maybe this will improve in time.

We are in home with a downspout that drained into the sidewalk which makes for a slippery/icy sidewalk. We bought this awesome rain barrel to collect rain to use in our gardens. As you can see, sometimes it rains so much that we put buckets out to collect the extra water. This has helped us cut out expensive water bill! We are considering buying another rain barrel for the other side of the house. We love that a hose can be connected or watering can put under the spicket for smaller watering jobs. Great product! Easy-to-assemble and use, too!

Format pratique pour récupérer l'eau de pluie. Seul hic est le bec verseur qui est trop bas pour remplir mon arrosoir.

It is really strong I had one once before it lasted for a long time.

Not nice quality at all. Cheap looking. Paint not nice on it and glue smeared on at seals. Like the person had excess glue on their hands and wiped it all over the barrel to get it off. Plus scuffs all over barrel. I know it's just a rain barrel but for $189 I expected a lot better!

Great purchase, I do recommend the stand for it. Makes it easier to use the tap at the bottom.

Love the rustic look of this rain barrel it was so easy to set up