Winterizing your Rain Barrel

I received my first question last week about winterizing a rain barrel. It was kind of a weird question and became apparent to me quickly that this person had purchased a rain barrel from a competitor when they said that they could not get all the water out of the rain barrel. WICHITA RAIN BARRELS are made to be left in place all year, even in the winter. As long as a short piece of hose is connected to the spigot AND the spigot is left open you will have no problems. I have left mine in place for over 4 years now and have had no problems. 


Last year we performed our first long term winter experiment. We let one of our Wichita Rain Barrels filled all winter. We let it freeze and then every day for a week would go out and break the ice up by hitting the side of the rain barrel with a hammer. We did this for a few reasons, first we wanted to test the integrity of the rain barrel in extreme weather, and second we wanted to make sure that it was frozen solid. The water did freeze solid and the barrel did expand but nothing broke. We do not recommend treating your own barrels this way.

Our recommendation for winterizing all WICHITA RAIN BARRELS is to keep them in place all year. In November when the temperature begins to creep toward freezing, empty the rain barrel and make sure to keep the spigot OPEN for the winter. Attach a short length of hose to the spigot, making sure that the end is pointed into an area of your yard that will not be effected by some extra water. I have ours go to a bush and a tree. We recommend doing this to make sure on any drainage from your roof does not end up in your basement, crawlspace or near any place that it could create damage.

Mrs. N's Duel Wichita Rain Barrel Setup

Mrs "N"'s son called us up last weekend and wanted some information about our systems. After consulting with them at there home we determined that one of our Duel Rain Barrel set ups would be ideal for the situation that they had. Here is a picture of the set up, and the awesome metal stands made by RED FENCE FARMS in Hutchinson KS.

Another Customers set up

I almost forgot about Miss "J"s Wichita Rain Barrels set up. She purchased these after seeing us at the Harvey County Garden Show. As you can see she also picked up a couple of our Rain Barrel Stands.

Here is what she has to say about her set up:  "I have used my rain barrels for two months and really like them.  Our city bills water in 100 unit (about 750 gallon) increments.  My last water bill showed ZERO use (that means I used less than 750 gallons that month, because of the supplement of the rain barrels.  Ordinarily I use around 1500 gallons and the previous bill, I used more than 3000 gallons. Also using the rain barrels made me think about my water consumption and I did water conservation in other ways, just to do a test to see how much I would use.  And I did it without feeling like I was "deprived" of water. "

Whats a RAIN SAUCER?

About a year and half ago I was contacted by Tom Spargo, one of the inventors of the Rain Saucer. We started talking about some alternative options for collecting rain water other than using the standard roof from your home or shed. Tom and a few other people began experimenting with some designs and have now moved into the experimental phase of production of their Rain Saucer. The goal for Tom was to collect rain water for people living out in the world that have very limited access to it and that are dependent on it to survive. Here is the blog:   http://www.rainsaucers.com/blog.htm

Check it out! There hard work will be life changing for a lot of people around the world!