Rain Barrels

So here is a photo of the rain barrels I created. I found the barrels on craigslist for $10 a barrel (you may also be able to find them free/cheap from a local car wash, bottlers or food processor). With 2 small kids, I went with the slightly more expensive but less work tracking them down route. Other items I used to create the barrels: a drill, a hole saw, a jigsaw, two boiler drain spigots, teflon tape, caulk/silicone sealer, fiberglass window screening, 2 rubber bands, and 2 disposable 1# flower pots, and 2 inch PVC pipes and couplers for the overflow and for joining two barrels. There are a plethora of instructions on creating rain barrels online, I took a combo approach. Several sets of instructions call for a small "hose diameter" overflow, however this is NOT a large enough overflow opening during a heavy rain. The 2" PVC seems to work well so far. Also, I chose to adjoin the two barrels at the bottom vs. the top so that I only had to install a spigot on one barrel and they drain simultaneously. Plus, there is a little more pressure that way.