Mountain Stitchworks

It's legal now ~ hard to believe it wasn't at one time ~ catching rain water that is.  Last year I set up a very simple system to catch rain water.  It was very successful, albeit not without a little work every time it rained ... which actually isn't that often in the summer in Colorado.  It was fun to go out in the rain and empty the basins I had placed under the rain gutters into old trash cans.   And it made it possible for me to grow a garden with a limited supply of water.


This year I've decided to continue with tradition and step it up a bit since one of my trash cans burst from the water freezing in it (that was the metal one).  The other one has been converted to a recycling container.  Here I plan to document a bit of the process starting with what I've found today and that is an amazing source for re-purposing containers ~ including food grade plastic 55-gallon barrels, right here in colorado.  The website is colorado zero waste.  




So far the "ingredients" necessary to make this rainwater barrel are:

Large food grade barrel

tin snips (to cut the gutter)

A bent arm gutter piece

screen (to put over the barrel opening)

PVC pipe (maybe a 3" tall by 3 - 4" diameter) to fit into the top of the barrel and hold the screen)

Spigot (3/4" full flow) that I can attach my hose to

Plummer's tape

Over flow hose & attachment of some type

Possibly a pipe to attach a second barrel to.

3/4" & 3" (or 4") drill bit