Making a rain barrel - resources

The Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District has this immensely useful info sheet on building rain barrels. And by far the cheapest place in the metro to buy a used 55-gallon barrel - for $25 - is:

Western Container
8811 Science Center Drive
New Hope, MN 55428
763-533-3093

Besides the barrel, the info sheet lists these other necessary materials:

• 1/2" hose spigot
• 3/4" inside diameter rubber washer
• 3/4" inside diameter steel washer
• PVC bushing with inside diameter to fit on non-hose end of spigot (?!)
• 1-1/2" wing nut plug (rubber)

Then for the overflow assembly, you need a 1-1/2" sump pump drain kit, including:

• 1-1/2" inside diameter male adapter
• hose clamp with range of  1-1/2"
• 1-1/2" overflow hose (weather resistant)

It will probably cost a total of around $40-50 to build the thing. Some places around here sell rain barrels for over $200!