The Great American Rain Barrel- choose color Americas Most Sensible Rain Barrel Start Price USD 169.00 Current Price USD 169.00 Time Left - Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Thursday, December 04, 2008 End Time Sunday, December 14, 2008 Location Hyde Park, Massachusetts See more about 'The Great American Rain Barrel- choose color' Description The GREAT AMERICAN RAIN BARREL America’s most sensible rain barrel.     Thank you very much for looking at The Great American Rain Barrel.  We have been recycling shipping drums into The Great American Rain Barrel and selling them nationwide since 1990, over 75,000 sold.    CHOOSE FROM:  Forest Green, Earth Brown, Nantucket Gray all 60 gallons EACH PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE.......  INCLUDE YOUR COLOR CHOICE AND CONTACT DELIVERY PHONE NUMBER   Our Story: Our primary business is FOOD! We import Mediterranean Specialty Foods and pack them into bottles at our plant in Hyde Park, MA. These barrels bring olives from Spain. We empty the barrels, repack the contents into bottles and distribute them nationwide.  We then take the empty barrels power wash them clean,  outfit them into a water collection system and ship them off to communities and homeowners all across the country. We have sold well over 50,000 barrels.   The barrel: Modeled after English Rain Barrels, they hold 60 gallons of precious un-chlorinated, oxygenated rain water. Our barrel is one of the largest capacity rain barrels available today! It is also the best built and most durable with a wall thickness of 3/16"; resulting in a rigid, heavy duty rain barrel that will last virtually forever.   The specs: 60 gallons stands 39" tall by 24" wide weighs 20 lbs. empty food grade UV protected Highly Durable 3/16” polyethylene   The parts: insect screen screw on lid overflow valve drain plug threaded spigot optional connection valve   The spigot: When we first started out designing our barrel in the late 80’s we used brass spigots – what we found was that over time the brass and the plastic did not marry well; sadly for our barrels it was not the stronger partner. Often cracks and leaks would formal round the spigot connection. We also found that brass often corrodes over time. We concluded that a plastic spigot made a better partner.   Spigot placement: YOU CAN CHOOSE! The barrel was originally designed to use with a watering can – a system that continues to prove popular- so the spigot is located 14” above ground to allow for a watering can to be placed beneath it. But, because hose attachment is also an option, we have designed the drain hole so that it can be used for the spigot at the bottom of the barrel and a hose can be connected.   Aesthetics: We are proud of our recycled barrels. We encourage buyers to only buy recycled containers and we appreciate the blemishes and aroma that confirm that they have been used.  The raw barrels are dulled and scuffed and often look dinghy, these barrels have traveled across the Atlantic in a container ship and have markings to prove it  - we like to refer to it as ‘naturally distressed” – so we paint them to make them more sightly for our gardens. First we inspect all our barrels to insure that the integrity of the barrel is not compromised. We spray paint them in an Osha approved staging room. The paint that we use is commercial grade mixed with hardeners for a smooth, glossy finish that adheres to the plastic. This formula is not available in retail quantities. Another option would be to paint with Krylon spray paint. We found it to be very toxic and hard to get a decent finish. Our barrels are offered in three environmentally colors: Forest Green, Nantucket Gray and Earth Brown. (The dyelot this season is a very dark almost black brown)   Installation: Our rain barrel is fast and easy to install. The directions, the spigot and the overflow valve are shipped inside the barrel to protect them during transport. Just choose where you want the spigot (in the drain hole at the bottom, or the spigot hole). Remove the washers and put it in the hole.  Place the overflow valve in the overflow hole at the top. You may want to attach a standard garden hose to the overflow valve to direct the excess rain water away from your home.   LINK MULTIPLE BARRELS -Save even more money and rain: Accumulate 120 with two, or 180 gallons with three barrels linked together with a linking elbow (just ask and we send one for free) and a short piece of any garden hose, or place each barrel at separate downspouts meeting your watering needs around your home.    The Diverter: (OFFERED SEPARATELY) The Save the Rain DiverterTM captures water fast and efficiently and protects your downspouts.  Use the diverter to channel water directly into your Great American Rain Barrel. Our diverter fits all standard residential downspouts, metal or plastic.  The installation requires two simple cuts in your downspout and then snap in the diverter.  Leave it in the open position when you want to store water, or fold it back to the closed position and your downspout will work as usual, protecting your downspouts and keeping your foundation free from paddling. Our Save the Rain DiverterTM is made of galvanized steel and comes with a lifetime warranty.  It stands 11" tall and 3" wide.. Diverter is not included in this offering but is available at $20 each, no additional shipping with barrel purchase. Just add $20.00 per diverter to your payment and let me know in the comment field or buy the diverter separately and subtract out shipping.   The guarantee – If you are not satisfied with your barrel you have two weeks to return for a full refund. After that we guarantee the barrel and parts for  one year after purchase. There are some limitations however -read instructions- put them away in winter and no blow torches!   Shipping We ship via FedEx or UPS ground to all states in the continental US (NO Hawaii, Alaska or Puerto Rico – Sorry!)  Current lead time on order processing all orders is up to 2 weeks. For bulk shipments of 4 or more - please email for freight rates. Discounts for commercially zoned addresses on Freight Shipments. For residents local to Boston, MA area we welcome you to pick your barrels up to save on shipping. Please order and pay for barrels in advance – we do not have a retail operation at our plant so we need to make pick up arrangements on the phone or via email. Pick up hours are between 8:00am and 3:30pm.   LEAD TIMES ARE CURRENTLY RUNNING THREE WEEKS.   Why save Rain Water…. Only ¼ inch of rain is needed to fill a 60 gallon barrel.  Sixty gallons can cover about 100 square feet with 1 inch of water. This can go along way in offsetting garden needs in the spring and summer months when water consumption increases anywhere between 20 and 200%. Capturing rain water in a barrel before it hits the ground decreases storm water run-off, which otherwise carries pollutants from paved surfaces into groundwater and rivers. Furthermore - you can save money by saving water - if your water is supplied by your town and you also use town sewer - more often than not the sewer usage is measured by your incoming water. In Boston for every $1.00 we pay for the water to come in, we are charged $2.00 for sewer usage - even if the water is not being flushed out. So you are still paying sewer fees on the water that you use to water your lawn, garden, fill your pool and wash your car! SAVE RAINWATER and SAVE MONEY!      Want to know more? Contact member, email bosolives@verizon.net, call (800)251-2352 or visit tgarb.com     Price breaks begin at 4 or more, please contact member with quantity and zip code.     Diverting water into your barrel: Because the barrel is round and the diameter of the barrel is wider at the midsection of the barrel than at the lid the water cannot flow directly from the downspout into the barrel without some sort of "diverter". There are many options available and conditions to consider.   1. If the barrel will be place directly in front of the downspout the most efficient and easiest option is the "Sven the Rain Diverter". Our diverter is made of galvanized steel and comes in two sizes to accommodate 2 x 3" rectangular, 3" round, 4 x 6" rectangular and 4", 5" round downspouts. Once the homeowner has selected a location for the barrel, they will need to remove approximately am 9" section of the downspout by cutting it with  a hacksaw in tow locations. The diverter will be placed in voided section and held in place with 2 sets of tabs one at the top and one at the bottom. Some crimping may be required at the corners of the downspout to get a snug fit on the diverter with a pair of needle nosed pliers. The beauty of the Save the Rain Diverter is that when the barrel is full or removed during the winter months, one simple needs to close the diverter and the downspout is fully functional. Also the length of the flap is generous enough to smooth out the flow of the water for less spillage and directs it more efficiently onto the barrel lid.   2. The other option would be to cut the downspout and place the end elbow at the location above the barrel. This would require reassembling the downspout when the barrel is removed. the elbow needs to be long enough to make sure that the water gets to the top of the barrel ( about 6").   3. If the barrel is place around the corner from the actual downspout there are flexible downspouts available at most garden and hardware stores that can be used. There are many options for this condition.   Collecting water the water flows down the downspout and is "diverted" onto the lid of the barrel ( I will describe diverting options below). The water drains thru about 8 pencil sized holes in the lid. Below the lid is a nylon mesh screen that rest over the mouth of the barrel   Spigot: the barrel comes with One threaded spigot for hose attachment and two options for locating the spigot:   Releasing water Once the water the is in the barrel it can be released through a spigot that is either at ground level (drain hole) to use with a hose or at 14" above ground to use with a watering can. When you receive the barrel there will be a plug in the "drain hole" if you prefer to place the spigot in the "drain hole" you will need to remove the drain plug and put it in the "spigot hole" this may require a and wrench. If you are using the"watering can" method you will need to remove the lid and dunk the watering can in the barrel to access the water once it has dropped below the level of the spigot.   The barrel has two holes at the top. One hole is open when you receive the barrel and is intended for the overflow valve, the other hole is plugged and is there for optional linking of two barrels together. You may wan to splice a 3/4 inch hose onto the overflow valve and direct the overflow back into a drywell if you have one or away form the foundation of your home. The parts: a threaded spigot for hose attached has two spigots and a nut, two elbows, one for immediate 'use as an overflow and one for future linking and instructions all come in a package inside the barrel. The screen will be in place when you receive it. On Apr-10-08 at 13:44:06 PDT, seller added the following information: SPECIAL NOTE: PAYPAL ORDER PROCESSING is not transmitting buyer comments left in comment field. In order to send color choice and contact delivery phone number please send separate message via "contact member' feature offered by eBay. I apologize for this inconvenience I have just received confirmation from paypal that is in fact a systems problem that they are working on. On May-05-08 at 13:00:53 PDT, seller added the following information: Please note: This is our busy season and this year orders are up over 100%. Lead times are  three weeks for shipping   : -(( We are doing the best we can and we appreciate your patience.   Place a Bid!