Jason

Ok, so we are under strict watering conditions here in Florida. So I was thinking a rain barrel may be a good idea. However, I don't care for the big old barrel sitting on the side of the house. What I am thinking of is making a custom water barrel as I cannot find anything I like.

I first though of a water storage unit, but most seem to be big and wide. I'm looking for something about 2-3 feet high, and the length of the flower bed and maybe a 1-2 feet wide. I would then run a drip hose the length of the garden along the side of the rain barrel, with a faucet at each end of the rain barrel.

I was thinking of going to a welder and having him custom make a box. However, this seems like it would be very expensive, and heavy, not to mention a pita to put in place.

Then I thought about building a frame out of 2x4's and putting something such as a pool liner inside to hold the water. This seems plausible, but again could get costly, and how to keep it from evaporating before I could use it.

So then I thought about maybe finding a way to get a fiberglass kit. However, I'm not sure if the resin will stick to the wood frame I would build. I think it could be the cheapest out of all options, but I would have to deal with the evaporation issue.

So I come to the Power of TSF. I'm looking for some other ideas that could work. Maybe there is something I'm not thinking of. Either a different material, or potential problems with any of the above ideas.

Whats your thoughts?

DonaldG

It would depend on the size of storage that you need. 50 Gallons? 100 gallons?

How about a large plastic container such as a domestic central heating oil tank (OK, so Florida doesn't need central heating. But wait, something on that line; a plastic chemical storage tank... A plastic septic tank maybe... Bury the container and store the water below ground level. A small electric pump would be enough to service flower/vegi beds...

Along the lines of here or here. These may or may not be what you need but its food for thought...

You would have to arrange for overflow when the tank is full - but that would be easy...

When we lived in the New Zealand bush with no services, all our water was collected from the roof and stored in large underground tanks - no evaporation & it was kept cool too.

DonaldG

How about old 40 gallon oil drums? Do you have 'wheelie bins' in Florida? You could bury one or two of those...

As for pumping water out from a butt/tank etc, I have used a pressure hose to suck water out - works a treat. Instead of connecting the input hose to a tap/faucet just dangle the input hose in the butt.

You can use the pressure hose in two ways for watering plants:

1) Put it on max pressure output and spray, from a few yards away, above the plants - this will deliver a fine mist spray that will settle nicely over the plants and ground.

2) Alternatively, take the pressure head off the handle and it will act like a regular low pressure hose pipe.

Either way it is easy to control the amount of water.

HTH

Edit:
'Wheelie bin' or recycling bin like these can be purchased in a variety of sizes. Having lids will keep evaporation down to a minimum. Maybe a trip down to your local recycling centre to see if thay have any old containers that would be suitable, maybe pick up a wheelie without wheels cheaply (or for free?)