Janna, I got it from the municipal yard, BUT, it is readily available by mail order. Check out the link below. Interesting sidenote: when we were picking up the diverter and the barrels at the yard the lady there told us she only had the closed top barrels but was expecting the removable top ones in any day. As it happened, while we were there their supplier for these barrels dropped by with a small supply and we immediately picked one that would allow us to daisychain (you need one with an outlet on the top right and the other on the top left if you want both of them to have spigots on the front). Who dropped them off: the chap who invented and sells the diverter! If you check his website you will find he encourages people to look for a local source of plastic barrels, it gets very expensive for him to ship the barrels. The kicker for us was that we could buy all the needed bits and pieces from the city for less money than from their supplier: the city subsidizes the program! Here is a link that might be useful: Water Saver

I bought 3 55gal drums and 2 250gal containers last yr...so far am only using 2 of the 55 gal. I have huge gutter issues so it is kinda setting the cart before the horse...but when I do get it all running good I will be soooo happy! Things around my place do not get done too quickly...it's a challenge to how can I convince hubby that he wants to spend money on house maintenance...he fights it till the house is falling down...arg! Having said that, I have built a 8x8 structure, it will be my sunroom? down in my back yard, have used 4x4s/2x6s and have a plexi roof and it will have patio doors and windows that have been scrounged...so far it has cost me $380 to build. I built it a certain way...lean to roof, so I can attach gutter and fill one of my big 250 gal tanks...that I will use to water stuff down there! I am so excited about it! Right now I have 4 metal 55 gal drums down there(were there when we bought the place) and they do not have spouts, I just dip into them, but the big tank will have a hose!!! I bought it for $50!(all the tanks I bought were $50 each)(so right now it is like having $250 sitting around doing nuthin')and I bought 2 rain diverters (brand new) at garage sales...but as of yet, I only have one 55 gal drum set up where I want it, and have a soaker hose attached and it isn't bad, but I think I need to raise it up more for better gravity, and I think it is clogged, cuz I didn't use a leaf catcher...ya live and learn! Hopefully next year I will have new gutters and will be all set up! I am obsessed! Now I look at all roofs as possible rain collecors...bwah ha ha!!!

I'm in wisconsin. We got our nasty weather several days ago. Had a foot of snow on the roof, then 1.5 inches of rain fell on it, then the temperature fell to zero - Bah humbug! An ice dam developed on the west facing roof of my house. A wet spot developed on the ceiling of room underneath the ice dam, then another wet spot began to develop around an electrical outlet on the wall - That can't be good. This means that when the weather clears later in the year, I'm facing the cost of redoing the roofing job that was done only 6 years ago. Gotta install an anti-ice dam sheet. Had a sheet of ice on the driveway and sidewalk. Been chipping away at that for a week. got snow piled up everywhere. Had to cut down the pile at the end of the driveway so we could see to back out on the roadway and spot any short people comming down the sidewalk. I've used up my melting salt supply. I need to look for more tomorow. It's scace and the price has climbed. My snow shovel may not last out the rest of winter. Its wear strip has worn back to the edge of the aluminum. When the wear gets down to the rivets, its goodbye shovel. I've really made use of my 4-wheel drive Jeep this winter. I'm ready for spring already, but that is 2 months away. I dread getting the gas bill this month - its going to be a big one, even larger than for January. The only bright spot is that we are having a string of 4 days of very clear, sunny days, the first that we've had all winter. I think I'll curl up and hibernate for another month.

Well, probably not actually bio unfriendly. After all, its the same water you take a shower or bath in (and cook with too). But the rusty crud does probably settle out and its a good idea to attempt to clear that stuff out every once in a while. Guess I will have to go out and do it Right Now. Oops. More info. I guess I forgot how my newer heater valve worked. It is opened with a screw driver. The nut shape is not a handle but the faucet cap, just like on an old sink faucet. If you took a wrench and opened that with water pressure on, you would create one of those destroy your house, epic flood, movies. And, its been so long, I had forgotten that people suggest draining the tank by truly draining it rather than just flushing stuff thru it. You are supposed to close off the water inlet above the tank AND turn off the heater so you don't burn up an empty tank; and THEN open the drain. Well, actually after also opening one or all hot water faucets so air can replace the draining water in the tank just like I suggested for emergency water. And, I guess I had some goop or a clog of some thing that clogged up the drain after a minute. I had an air compressor that I blasted into the drain hose. That temporarily pushed the clog away and water gushed out for a couple minutes until it clogged up again; presumably with the same junk. I did the air blast again and got a long running flow until empty. Obviously most people don't have an air compressor and air hose. Blasting (or gentle) water from another outside garden hose would also work, but you are then putting two same garden hoses together and the metal to metal won't seal well. I actually used an odd rubber washer to act as a gasket between my metal pieces. You could do the same with some rubber item (or scrap leather/vinyl from old purse etc.) with a hole in the middle. Guess its a good thing I did it now. Hope the wife doesn't want to take a shower for a few hours.