Thanks to BlueBarrel customer Erik, of Moreno Valley, California, for sharing photos of his BlueBarrel System® installation, including some very creative embellishments. Read on and get inspired by our DIY highlight of the season!
The least I could do in exchange for the great service I got from BlueBarrel was to document the construction of my systems. Hopefully, my "innovations of necessity" give you ideas for what is possible for your own. - Erik
In southern California’s dry climate, lots of water storage is needed to get though a long dry season. Erik installed 27 barrels for nearly 1,500 gallons of storage capacity, to keep his suburban lot green.
He installed nine barrels in the front yard, two in the back, and he managed to fit 16 along his narrow side yard corridor—an ideal place to hide a long string of barrels.
Before he began, Erik painted 11 barrels for the front- and back-yard installations. He didn't bother painting the remaining 16 barrels for the hidden side-yard system.
Under themed headings, we've highlighted some of Erik's creative customizations:
Erik's Order:
- 27 barrels for local pickup
- 1 2-Barrel RainKit® with Standard Downspout Diverter
- 1 9-Barrel RainKit® with Standard Downspout Diverter
- 1 16-Barrel RainKit® with Standard Downspout Diverter
- Installation tools
- 2 Extra Downspout Diverters
- 5 Leaf Eaters
- Longer Inlet Hose (sold by the foot)
- 1 RainRouter Selector Valve Kit
- 3 Tank Gauges
- 1 Extra Spigot Assembly
Double Duty Downspout Diverters
With nine barrels in the front yard, Erik spanned enough distance that he could easily collect from two existing downspouts. He ordered an extra downspout diverter for his 9-Barrel RainKit to accomplish this.
This downspout diverter is installed with a level inlet hose (as intended by design).
This diverter is installed with a descending inlet hose to force system overflow through the other diverter.
This is a subtle detail, but one worth noting for those who are connecting to multiple downspouts: Our standard downspout diverters are designed to be installed so that the inlet hose is level. This allows water to get into the barrels when they have capacity. But when barrels are full, water will back up the inlet hose and escape down the downspout as it normally would.
Erik wants to send all of his overflow through the front-most downspout, so by installing the second diverter higher, he forces his overflow to the downspout of his choice. Pretty clever, Erik!
Custom Curves and Spacing
Look more closely at the 9-barrel system to notice Erik used custom spacing to work around small obstacles (an existing irrigation manifold and standpipe). He also rounded a corner to mimic the curve of his home.
Per the BlueBarrel Rainwater Catchment System design, barrels are spaced at 24” on center for the tightest spacing possible, but one of the biggest benefits of our design is the ability extend barrel spacing obstacles, and use standard locally-available elbow fittings to create L-shaped or curved layouts.
Leaf Eaters
Notice Erik used Leaf Eaters (also available in our online store) on every downspout to keep leaves and debris out of his BlueBarrel Systems.
Leaf eaters (also known as debris excluders) are simple screen filters that are recommended over first flush diverters in most cases. They are effective in keeping debris out of a rain barrel system without obstructing the flow of water or nutrients into the barrels, and they are very easy to service.
The top screen is easy to remove, shake off and rinse, and snap back into place. If installed at eye-level (as Erik has done), this can be done without a ladder.
Double-Stacked Downspout Diverters
In the back yard, Erik had less space for barrels, but he managed to fit two right next to a corner downspout.
Here again you’ll see Erik doubled up on diverters, but this time in a different way.
As discussed above, our downspout diverters send overflow down the downspout as normal when barrels are full.
The rubberized diverter head that inserts into the downspout seals off the interior to divert water into the barrels, but it has an internal spillover so that excess water falls down the normal course of the downspout when the system is overwhelmed. Likewise, if the flow of water down the downspout exceeds the capacity of the inlet hose, small amounts of water will discharge down the downspout as the barrels fill.
Erik installed a second diverter below the first to capture as much of this overflow as possible into his two-barrel system.
Notice the downward-facing outlet on the bottom downspout diverter? That's a RainRouter Selector Valve, an optional accessory that allows the user to route water in two directions, with adapters to connect two sets of rain barrels, two garden hoses, or one of each. A simple dial allows the user to send water in one direction or the other, or both at the same time, with an "off" setting that bypasses both directional outlets and sends all water down the downspout as normal.
This piece gives Erik the option to route his system overflow through a garden hose to another location, or to connect to another set of rain barrels around the corner (with the ability to fill two systems simultaneously in this case), or to send his overflow down the regular downspout.
Spanning the Distance
Erik really made use of the space in his narrow side yard. With each barrel occupying only a 2’ x 2’ footprint, even a narrow side yard can accommodate a long line of barrels while leaving a passable circulation corridor. Notorious for becoming "junk storage" space, narrow side-yard corridors are ideally suited for rain barrels. Notice again Erik used custom spacing to install barrels on either side of a window-seat bump-out. As all barrels in a BlueBarrel Rainwater Catchment System are plumbed along the bottom, all 16 barrels will still fill and empty at the same time.
While Erik had one downspout descending within range of this side-yard system, he wanted to grab water from an un-tapped downspout farther away to service these 16 barrels with as much water as possible. This is easy to do with BlueBarrel’s extended inlet hose, which we sell by the foot in our online store. Many people have a great place for barrels that doesn’t happen to be near a downspout. As Erik demonstrates, this does not need to be a limiting factor.
Well done, Erik, and thanks for sharing your inspiration for our DIY-Files series.
Stay tuned for our next customer highlight.
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