Save Water and Money

Last week Mr and Mrs Not Made of Money did a post about ways to save water and money.
This week, they featured my reply on how to make a rain barrel in their latest post.

Call me lazy or forgetful, but I really don't know why I haven't posted on making your own rain barrel before now. Perhaps it's because I live in an apartment and not something I currently have to worry about.

However, this summer while visiting my uncle; I discovered that he was making rain barrels and selling them on Craigslist.

Checking Craigslist now, it doesn't look like anybody is doing selling them in Indianapolis. But that doesn't mean you can't make your own!

I did a quick google search and came up with these various diy instructions:
DIY Life

DIY network

Instructables




And this is the method my uncle uses:

(1) 50 gallon plastic barrel (call around to restaurants to see if they have any empties wasting space. My uncle gets them from free to $15).
(1) outdoor water faucet (to connect garden hose)
(1) outdoor water valve (optional- to connect multiple barrels together for overflow)
(1) piece of scrap gutter about six inches long
(1) pool filter
(1) bolt

Instructions:
Install outdoor water faucet and/or valve about a foot from the bottom.
Cut hole a snug hole for the gutter scrap
In the middle of the gutter scrap, insert bolt through the width of the gutter. (this is only to keep the gutter from slipping into the barrel. It doesn’t attach to anything)
Insert pool filter into gutter (we don’t want leaves and trash in the barrel)
Slid the scrap gutter into the hole and you are done with making your rain barrel!

Final step, is to place barrel under the run-off for your gutter!