RainStation 45 Gal. Recycled Black Rain Barrel with Diverter

Super easy to set up and use. I made a gauge for mine because I wanted to know the water level at a glance. Wish HD carried the clear pvc pipe!

The rain barrel was just what I needed to control the water flow from the gutter. Before the water was creating a soggy area. I also use it to water my plants. Now we have 2, having bought the same one 5 years ago.

I have been using this water barrel for about a month now and am very pleased with it. Easy to assemble - I decided to go with the plastic faucet supplied with the barrel and there has been no leakage at all. Elevated the barrel on blocks (approx. 12" above grade - see photo) and located the faucet at the lower outlet location so that I can fully drain the barrel. I attempted to use a hose to water my plants but the pressure is so low that the flow rate was only a dribble - an empty coffee container (about 1/2 gallon) works fine (requires a bit of bending over though). I don't see how a soaker hose would work given that the water pressure with a full barrel is approx. 10 psi (about 20-25% of normal city water pressure) and the pressure gets lower as the water level in the barrel drops. The diverter valve works well but there will definitely be some rainwater discharging from the gutter drain (if you have a 4" x 3" gutter downspout, the barrel diverter insert only captures rainwater from 1/2 of the downspout area). This rain barrel certainly meets my needs and I am very satisfied with it. I did deduct one star due to the very basic appearance of the barrel (the description of it looking like a trash container is fairly accurate) - I have not used the flower pot feature as I am concerned about soil getting into the barrel and/or of the flower pot flooding in heavy rain.

I had them professionally installed, not sure we could have done it on our own . They look wonderful. I did link 2 of the barrels and it is really helping. I would recommend them. My gutter guy was also really impressed with them. He told me these are usually used up North because you can cap off and remove them. I do recommend lifting them at least 2 blocks off the ground . I have had the barrels about 2 months now. I am really glad I got them.

We purchased this Rain Barrel 2 years ago and it has worked out great! The set-up directions were really easy to follow. My husband built a wooden box for it to sit on and would suggest you raise it up for ease of use. The spigot wasn't the metal one. If I buy another, I would spend the extra for the metal one. Just a couple of good rain storms would fill the barrel and I would fill watering cans to hand water my gardens with the gravity feed hose we attached to the upper spigot. The top attaches pretty securely and we had no issues with bugs or mosquitoes getting inside. Never any overflow problems where it attached to the downspout and, in the fall, just drain, disconnect the hose, store the barrel, and put the winter cover on, and you are all set. I would definitely recommend the product!

Very pleased with this product. It seems constructed well and should provide years of service. The instructions were excellent (clear and concise). I also like how it provided the gutter attachments as well as the hole saws for installation. I did purchase an aftermarket brass spigot to use in pace of the stock plastic one after reading many reviews. Regardless, I think the $79.00 I paid for it was a good deal.

We have a retaining wall that is 3 feet high. I put the rain barrel on two rows of cinder blocks on top of the retaining wall. I thought this would provide enough water pressure to water the boulevard. Only the first foot of soaker hose gets water. Not happy with the performance.

Love this water barrel. Most we looked at you had to cut the whole downspout off. This comes with a drill bit to cut small circle out of downspout. Very easy to assemble and looks great. I will add that we raised ours up off the ground with cement block and sandstone to make it easier to get to spout.

Overall -- I recommend this product. Here are a few thoughts in no particular order. * Build Quality: it's plastic. If you see a garbage can for sale that's equal size -- that's roughly what you're getting here. Only difference is some cosmetic differences, but the basic concept is a garbage can. * Assembly: relatively easy. From unboxing to stepping back & placing the flowers on top was roughly 1 hour. This includes the time to level the ground, assemble the platform (self provided, via 2 cinder blocks & paver stone), cut the hole into the drain pipe, and screwing in the lid. * Connection to the (gutter) drain pipe: this was actually pretty relieving to have this style, rather than a complete diverter that would replace the entire section of drain pipe. The included drill bit was simple to assemble, sharp, and the diverter-piece was easy to insert into the drain pipe. I was actually concerned I was doing something wrong, but it really was simple to complete this step. * Spigot & seal: the Spigot (shown in the picture with a RED knob) is plastic. It's not high quality. I feel that on a hot day, this will likely warp. HOWEVER, the mechanism inside to prevent water from flowing is solid and hasn't failed yet in the past two weeks that it's been in the rain.

I do not recommend this product: diverter is flawed. Difficult to install (drill large hole in downspout, insert rubber fittings), barrel must be absolutely level to diverter, and then debris accumulated in the downspout above the diverter to the extent that the downspout split and had to be replaced. You are MUCH BETTER OFF buying a rain barrel with a simple screened opening for downspout. ALSO: plastic faucet is junk. Planter top was initial reason for purchase but it is very shallow and has no drainage unless you allow it to drain into barrel which of course will bring soil into water.