Check Craigslist, Ft Wayne area has 2 Plastic barrel sellers $10.00 each.
Anyone know where to get the diverters locally ?
How much do you need? Most people don't realize just how much rain comes down in a normal rainfall, or how much they need to water their garden etc.
Lets say your garden is 20 X 50 (smallish garden) and it's really dry (hasn't rain for a while) so you want to give it the equivalent of 1/2" of rain. 20 X 50 = 1,000 sf 1/2" rain on 1,000 sf is 42 cubic feet, or 312 gallons.
Just to put this in perspective, I'm not on city water, and my well is low-production so I can't use well-water for watering etc. I have an 8,000 gallon rain-water collection system. I planted 1/4 acre of grass a few weeks ago, right before we were supposed to get a week of rain; we didn't get the rain. I had to water that grass every day, I emptied my 8,000 gallon tank in 5 days, and that was giving the grass the equivalent of 1/10th inch of rain per day. Most people just want to be able to water a few flowers in pots; IMHO, that is the only reasonable use of a rain-water BARREL. If you plan to water anymore than that you need a rainwater TANK.
ETA, and just in case you can't comprehend the size of an 8,000 gallon tank, most semi-truck tanks on the road are no larger than 6,000 gallons, so my rainwater collection tank hold OVER a semi-load of water.
Food Grade Barrels can be bought on 46 west of Spencer for 10 - 20 dollars. They also have the FG Industrial size containers for sale
How much do you need? .
I'm not sure I would tie them into your domestic water supply unless you make it a permanent change. The risk of cross-contamination between your clean water and your rain-water systems bears too much risk IMHO. Personally, I wouldn't bath in my rain-water unless I got really desperate. Flushing toilets, that's actually a good idea!I have a total of about 500 gallons of storage in three different spots on my place. I have planned on getting a big tank, but I was thinking 1,000 gallons big. Now I'm wondering if I should go bigger. I've thought about plumbing in the rain water for showers and for toilets, and it'd be nice to have it available in the winter also. I've considered building a lean-to shed around the tank (which will be up against the back wall of my house) with insulation to see if I can keep it all winter.
Who is this place ?
I'm not sure I would tie them into your domestic water supply unless you make it a permanent change. The risk of cross-contamination between your clean water and your rain-water systems bears too much risk IMHO. Personally, I wouldn't bath in my rain-water unless I got really desperate. Flushing toilets, that's actually a good idea!
The below is a response to a member that PMed me about my system, he is thinking about getting a tank too. My system is not cheap by any means, it was installed by a man with more money than he knew what to do with prior to me buying the place.
My system is completely separate from my well-water. Well is used for domestic (in-the-house) water only. I have 1 outside well spigot if needed. The rainwater is a 2nd water system, setup exactly like a well (submersible well-pump in the tank, pressure tank and pressure switch in the crawlspace) that feeds 4 outside spigots (one on the house and 3 frost-free hydrants around the house). The tank is a 20 X 8 X 8 concrete buried tank. The power and poly water line are buried and go under the house to the pressure tank first. No worries about freezing this way and algae growth in the tank isn't a problem. Well pump, poly line, wire, and pressure tank shouldn't run more than $1500 but I have no idea how much a concrete tank that size would cost, it was here when I moved in. I'm more than willing to answer any questions you may have.
I think it's a private individual, on the south side of the road near the top of a hill. I've seen them there before too.
When connecting multiple drums does it matter if they're connected at the top or bottom ?
Who is this place ?