Usually, roof gutters are designed to collect runoff that might end in drains. Without a proper plumbing installation from the roof to rain barrels, runoffs might cause erosion on the soil and ruin your beautiful landscape.
Water conservation comes with many direct and indirect benefits. One of them is the cost-effectiveness of using rainwater instead of paying huge costs for utility bills. If you live in drought-prone regions, it makes sense to use rain barrels to store rainwater.
After a hectic planting season, it’s frustrating to harvest low yields of crops. Since rainwater barrels come in different shapes and capacities, you can prepare for season-long evergreen lawns, gardens, and farms. The best rain barrels can help to reduce your household water consumption.
They should have special designs that prevent mosquitoes from breeding and invading your homes.
Usually, well-designed rain barrels have strong lids and wire-mesh screens. These attachments ensure that the stored rainwater is not contaminated.
Even when you don’t drink rainwater, it could be a source for pets and domestic animals to quench their thirst. Some applications of rain barrels include the irrigation of plants and the washing of cars.
However, smart homeowners use rainwater tanks to clean their homes and flush toilets. Other factors to consider when shopping for rain barrels is the build quality. The strength of their molded plastic materials determines their durability.
Apart from the material’s quality, plastic rainwater barrels that are free from harmful elements (like Lead) and BPA are safe to use. Also, easy-to-install rain barrels often do not require much plumbing accessories. It saves time and resources to buy these types of rain barrels.
With a reliable overflow system, your favorite rain barrel will conserve water and prevent a messy environment. Let’s analyze some features of 11 top-rated rain barrels.
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Top 11 Best Rain Barrels
#01. Polymart CIVPOWER 100-Gallon Rain Barrel
No products found.Do you need rain barrels with large baskets that can prevent piles of debris inside the tank? Polymart CIVPOWER is not only a rainwater tank, but it repels pests that have an affinity for wet environments.
This 100-gallon barrel has a 30-inch diameter and a height of 43 inches. As an above-ground tank with an outlet 0.75-inch bulkhead fitting, and you can install it with a spigot to supply watering pots. It’s easy to install this barrel with a plug and 1.5-inch bottom bulkhead.
However, you might need to install a quarter-turn valve to increase the flow of water for your garden’s watering pots. Since polyethylene plastic is a BPA-free you can use this tank to supply drinking water for livestock.
Also, this rain barrel has a 3-inch stainless steel screen that works as a reliable overflow system during rainstorms.
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#02. FCMP Outdoor RC4000-BRN Catcher Rain Barrel
No products found.A rain barrel with sturdy plastic material makes a good roof collection system that stores water. FCMP Outdoor Rain Barrel comes with a complete set of fittings for plumbing installations. Also, it has a flat-back design that allows proper placement of the downspout and easy installation.
This RC4000-BRN Rain Catcher has a large opening that collects water quickly. Unlike rain barrels with small collection ports, this brown barrel can hold 50 gallons of water. It’s an expandable water barrel with side-mounted spigots that allows you to link many barrels through an in-series connection.
You don’t have to worry about the safety of small pets and kids around this rainwater storage equipment. There is a spoke and wheel attachment on the top of this barrel that prevents hazards. Additionally, the debris screen ensures a low risk of water contamination and water-borne diseases.
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#03. Terra Cotta Algreen Products Cascata Rain Barrel
No products found.Algreen Cascata Rain Barrel has a stylish design of double-walled crown planter and 65-gallon tanks for storing rainwater. While the planter is detachable, it has a corrosion-proof screen guard that doesn’t allow rainwater-collection trough from your roof to pass through it.
There’s a connector fitting at the base of this barrel that allows you and drains water when you want to clean the tank. Apart from the unique pottery design, the texture of this roto-molded plastic barrel is impact-resistance.
With an underneath attachment brass spigot fitting, you can supply watering pots or connect water hoses and sprinkle the lawn. Also, you can attach Algreen’s linking kit with this plastic barrel and other rainwater tanks.
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#04. Good Ideas RW50-OAK Rain Wizard Rain Barrel
No products found.Apart from Terra Cotta, Good Ideas Rain Wizard is available in Oak, Green, Black, and Khaki colors. These cool shades colors and the BPA-free plastic material are unique designs of modern rain barrels. The sturdy construction is impressive, and it comes with a polyethylene resin frame that’s UV-resistant.
It can withstand impacts and low temperatures of frosty winters. So, you can have your Rain Wizard Rain Barrel tank for many years. This tank can hold 50 gallons of rainwater, and it comes with a mesh screen that prevents impurities.
Its strong and rough-textured body can fit any environment. With this brass spigot connection, you install shut-off valves and control the supply of water to livestock, garden plants, and household use.
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#05. Smart Tank 50 Gallon Stackable Water Storage Tank
No products found.Harvest runoff from the roof and save money on water bills with this Smart Tanks 50-gallon barrel. The tank is made from food-grade and BPA-free plastic. It has a space-saving design that allows you to position the empty tank easily.
This rainwater storage barrel is durable, and ideal for versatile applications. Also, you can store potable water this Smart Tanks barrel outside your building. However, it’s important to boil the water before you consume it.
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#06. Achla Rain Barrel Green Rain Barrel
No products found.Achla Rain Barrel is made from polyethylene plastic and painted with a non-fade green color. With a 54-gallon barrel, you can connect kitchen sinks, toilets, and water garden plants. This capacity is suitable for small household chores.
The removable debris screen is an impressive design that allows you to clean, and lock safely. You don’t have to worry about the safety of this rainwater barrel because it comes with a childproof lid. Also, you can expand the capacity of this Achla Rain Barrel with plumbing fittings.
Generally, water conservation with strong tanks can reduce water bills and store rainwater for many days. This Green Barrel model is durable too.
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#07. FCMP Outdoor US4000-TC Urn Style Rain Barrel
No products found.This FCMP Outdoor plastic barrel comes with a Terra Cotta finish, and it looks like are real pottery. The planter top design makes it a perfect outdoor design and decor equipment.
However, you can store rainwater and grow flowers in the backyard or close to the driveway. Apart from being a 50-gallon rainwater tank, this durable plastic is UV-resistant. It has a solid construction that resists intense heat from sunlight and impacts.
The plastic rain barrel is attractive and comes with a rare design. Also, it contains recyclable materials that are lead and BPA-free.
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#08. RTS Home Accents Rain Water Collection Barrel
No products found.RTS Home Accents 50-Gallon Brown barrel fits flat exterior walls of the house. With a dimension of 33.5 x 24 x 18.25 (height x wide x deep), you can keep this rain barrel in any corner of your yard. It comes with a dual overflow system that allows rainwater to flow into multiple barrels.
This overflows design prevents over-flooding of your yard with rainwater house. The screen’s frame is made from Aluminum, and its mesh is designed to trap tiny impurities and insects.
When storing water, you don’t need to worry about insect infestation and breeding of mosquitoes. Also, this barrel doesn’t have large openings that can cause drowning accidents for children and pets. The texture of this barrel molded plastic is tough, and it’s covered with a non-fade oak color.
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#09. Mirainbarrel Rain Barrel
No products found.Rainwater barrels with food-grade plastic materials can store water to irrigate gardens and farmlands with veggies, fruits, and other consumable plants. Mirainbarrel Rain Barrel comes with upcycled plastic materials.
This food-grade plastic barrel might not contain lead, but it’s not ideal for storing potable water. Also, the mesh screen is well-designed to trap debris that flows with rainwater from the eavestrough.
With this 58-gallon rainwater barrel, you can reduce the risk of runoff pollution. Also, this rain barrel controls moisture levels around your building’s foundation. Considering the design and capacity, it fits both commercial and homeowners’ applications.
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#10 Goflame Collapsible Rain Barrel Water Collector
No products found.Do you need a 50-gallon rain-collection tank for industrial applications? This green Collapsible Barrel by Golflame has been built with the toughest PVC frame. It comes with a double-zipper top, inlet filter, and an overflow fitting.
More so, this barrel comes with a rustproof PVC mesh screen that can withstand the effects of any weather condition. By storing rainwater in Goflame Foldable Tanks, you can reduce the average water consumption of your factory or sewer treatment facility by about 40%.
The foldable design ensures that users can transport and change the position of this tank easily. You can link it with multiple barrels to increase water storage capacity that meets your needs. It’s easy to connect water hoses for lawns and garden plants with the spigot connection.
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#11. VINGLI Collapsible Rain Barrel
No products found.This VINGLI Rain Barrel stores 50 gallons of rainwater with dual-way zippers. Its space-saving design allows the tank to fit backyards, and corners of houses with tight spaces. The top mesh is designed like a filter to prevent leaves, and insects from contaminating your rainwater.
Normally, rainwater tanks with reusable PVC frames are simple to assemble. Since these reusable PVC frames are resistant to corrosion, you should expect to use this product for many years. Also, it doesn’t take more than 5 minutes to set up this VINGLI Collapsible Rain Barrel.
With an outflow valve at the base of this barrel, you can connect many rainwater barrels and conserve water for all your needs.
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How To Buy The Right Rain Barrel
Capacity Of Rain Barrels
Depending on your needs, you can determine the capacity of a rain barrel. Normally, 100-gallon rainwater barrels can serve a large household consumption and lawn care services. If you are a single user, it might take between 5 to 10 gallons of water to flush your toilet every day.
The capacity of storage that will be ideal for this purpose and watering your garden should be at least 60 gallons. However, industrial applications like the production of goods and sewage treatment might need at least a 1,000-gallon capacity.
If 1/2 gallon of water comes from 1 inch/square foot of rainfall in your area, multiply these factors with the width of a roof (in feet). The result gives an idea of what size of rainwater tank you need.
What Type Plastic Material?
Injection-molded plastic materials with double walls and UV-treatment are very durable constructions for rainwater barrels. However, you should consider food-grade plastic materials because these types of rain barrels can store water that you need for consumable garden plants.
Also, lead and BPA-free plastic barrels are safe for storing for pets and livestock. Materials like polyethylene resins have high impact resistance and they can resist unfriendly weather conditions.
The Design
There are rain barrels with improved designs like top-mounted planters and adjustable mesh screens. Algreen Cascata Rain Barrel is a type of rainwater-harvesting tank with a planter. If you are an avid gardener, choose rain barrels with beautiful design.
Some of the rain barrel models in this buying guide have colors that make them look like expensive pottery and artworks. Apart from aesthetics, a functional rain barrel should have accessible brass spigot connections.
The position of the spigot is important because there has to be enough space for water hoses and watering cans to fit. Also, the drain plug of a favorite rainwater barrel model should allow fast and free flows of water. While cleaning rain barrels to remove sludge, the drain plug’s design determines the speed of water flow.
Safety
The safety of little children and pets is essential, and you should consider barrels with lockable to covers. It’s better to buy rain barrels with small opening and inlet filters that have covers. Normally, overflow issues are common conditions that come with rainstorms.
Your ideal rainwater tank should have a reliable overflow assembly. With this overflow system, you can connect multiple barrels and be confident during heavy rains.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What are some disadvantages of storing rainwater with barrels?
By storing rainwater in outdoor barrels, you can direct runoff and conserve water for your plants during droughts. However, barrels with uncovered tops are breeding ground for disease-causing insects with mosquitoes. Also, an uncovered rain barrel is a potential drowning hazard for small pets.
What are the basic accessories that come with rainwater barrels?
Well-designed rain barrels have built-in lids, drain plugs, inlet filters, spigots, overflow valves, water hoses, and mesh screens. You might be lucky to buy a rainwater barrel that comes with a complete plumbing kit.
What’s important with the installation of rainwater barrels?
Maintain a stable platform before placing the barrel will prevent a collapse in the future. Normally, plastic rain barrels expand when they contain water. It’s important to ensure the right installation tips and an uneven base.
Final Verdict
There’s nothing more desirous than ensuring a healthy environment. When you have houseplants and a lush green garden with flowers, it’s important to feed them with fresh and clean water.
A rainwater barrel can store and supply plants with clean water easily. Also, some of the improved rain barrel models in this guide come with built-in planters.
They are high-quality barrels that can resist the effects of intense sunlight and weather conditions. You can improve the satisfaction of raising beautiful gardening with BPA-free rain barrels.
Last update on 2023-09-30 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
