Great American Rain Barrel

Well, I gave it 5 stars right away while setting it up. Then after reading all instructions, I am so bummed. I need it for drinking water. When I was searching for water barrels, I typed in "food grade", and this was one that came right up. So, I ordered it. Nothing on the Amazon description said that it wasn't food grade. After re-reading it, it doesn't say that it is either. I'm not going to return it. It is a pain. I will eventually need rain water. But, I am not ready to plant grass yet. I am on a budget however. So, again, I am bummed. I may look into returning it though. I've got so much to do. Maybe a good idea to reiterate on-line that it isn't food grade, so this misinterpretation doesn't happen to someone else. Thanks.

Very nice thickness to the barrel. Even when completely full it feels sturdy. The top screws on and off pretty easily and the mesh that is included helps keep bugs out. My complaint with it is that the valve is pretty cheap and does not lend itself to putting a hose on it even once without a little more than the usual effort. Once spring rolls around again i'm planning on getting something a lot more rugged that can handle frequent hooking and unhooking of hose.

So far this barrel is working to collect water. I am not sure how long the "faucet" will work. The one big problem with this barrel is that the lid was nearly impossible to unscrew to get to the parts stored inside. It looked as if a machine of some sorts had screwed on the lid as there were gouge marks on the lid and barrel. I was not able to screw the top back on with the screening in place, so I had to discard the screening. Screening would be helpful, but not the manner in which it is currently placed when the barrel is sent.

We have 2 of these barrels (so far) and love them! Two of our neighbours have already bought these as well after seeing ours. I did end up changing out the fittings to brass, (personal preference only), but the barrels arrived with everything described and they are good quality and sturdy. We did a lot of research before choosing these particular barrels (we have 2 other smaller barrels) that we will give away and replace with 2 more of these! Thanks - they work great so far!

Haven't really used it yet because the literature isn't supporting the use I had in mind for it. Looks good. Sturdy. But I want to use it in the winter time to keep ice from forming on a sidewalk where there is no place to direct the run off to. Only concrete. Thought I read the specs, etc. but maybe not. May try anyway.

It's a nice design and with necessary features and works great. It did have several cosmetic scratches and scraps out of the box but nothing too bad or hugely noticeable. :-)

The hole for the cheap plastic spigot was way too small. Ended up buying a brass spigot and having to drill the hole bigger. Holes on top for water to enter are very small and clog easily. They are smaller than the top of my pinkie to fit in. Because the lid screws on top over the screen you can not get a good seal, so water leaks from that area.

I picked this rain barrel after i murdered my Moby because this was so affordable and easy to get. Truly i liked the Moby better but could no longer get it locally and this was much cheaper. And this is more than good. I do wish the lid was easier to remove to dip a bucket, but can live with that. i elected to put two spigots in so i made a trip to the hardware store. it looks cool and is working fine