How to make a Gravity Fed Water Barrel for less than $20 dollars

DIY Water Barrel

Back in the fall, we planted 20 crepe myrtles near the driveway entrance to add some color to the farm, but since it’s summer the soil is really drying up around the trees. So we decided that the crepe myrtles needed a little TLC in order to survive.

Now our crepe myrtles are located at the front of the property, which is about 2000 feet from the house. So, we needed to come up with a way to water the trees after putting down the fresh soil. And yes…we considered hooking a bunch of hoses together, but that was definitely NOT going to work!

That’s when we decided to make a Gravity Fed Water Barrel!

Our project started with a trip to Home Depot for some supplies. We loaded up on 10 large bags of top soil with the intent of putting about half the bag around each plant. (We spent a few dollars more on the water retaining top soil in hopes that it will help to sustain the trees better through the hot summer months.) After placing the bags of soil around the yard and front entrance, it was time to assemble the water barrel because these trees desperately needed some water!

Here’s what we used to make the water barrel;

Supplies:

3/4″ Hose Barb Adapter
10 ft 1/2“ Clear Vinyl Tubing
3/4 “ 90 Degree PVC Threaded Elbow
1” Spade Drill Bit

And lastly….

A 30-32 Gallon Trash Can with Lid which we picked up for only $10 at Walmart

Total cost – Less than $20!

3/4″ Hose Barb Adapter

10 ft 1/2″ Clear Vinyl Tubing

3/4″ 90 Degree PVC Threaded Elbow

1″ Spade Drill Bit

30-32 Gallon Trash Can with Lid

Next – It’s time to assemble everything. The assembly of the water barrel only takes a few minutes….like 15 minutes tops.

Assembly:

Use the spade drill bit to cut a hole in to the trash can. It needs to be located close to the bottom of the barrel in order to get the maximum usage out of the water barrel.
Insert the ¾” hose barb adapter to the front of the can and fitting it right in to the hole that was just drilled.
On the inside of the trash can, screw the PVC elbow on to the hose barb adapter with the elbow placed sideways. Tighten as much as you can so that it provides a nice seal.

**Note: Our seal wasn’t perfect. Our can dripped about 2 tablespoons of water which wasn’t a big deal for us. If you need it watertight, then I suggest adding a gasket or using some sealant to really secure the valve in place and make it watertight.

Add the hose to the hose barb adapter on the front of the can and then you’re ready to fill it with water. (You can also add a clip if you need the hose to seal off.)

We decided it would be easier to put the trash can in the back of the truck and then drive from tree to tree to ‘water’ them. So we filled up the can with water at the house and then drove our water barrel around. Super easy way to water a bunch of plants that are spread out!

The entire assembly process and filling the water barrel only took 30 minutes, and that included clean up.

From that point, it was all about getting the watering done. We drove the truck to a tree, watered it and then moved on to the next one. In another 30 minutes or so, we had all the trees watered and we had a reusable watering barrel on top of it. Success!!

Here’s our DIY watering barrel in action

Once the barrel was empty and all of the trees were properly watered ….it started to RAIN. (sigh)

That’s Crazy Farm Living for you! 🙂

~Anne & Frank

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