i used the drain grate things from the box store. i think its like 6-8" diameter. use a big screw clamp to hold screen on and stick it in.

Maybe he was thinking that the second barrel had to be smaller (shorter) for the water to flow into it? I don't know what he was thinking, but I figured he would know. However, before I ordered a smaller rain barrel, I googled how to piggy back them, and nowhere did I find that the second barrel had to be smaller. He must have some logic behind his thinking. I think the problem is that the bigger barrel is sitting on one level of cinder blocks to raise the barrel high enough to get my watering can to fit under the spigot. And, if what he says is true, and I need a smaller second barrel, I wouldn't know how to fit the can under the spigot (if it must be lower). I would need to put TWO levels cinder blocks under the first (making the first barrel higher), and one cinder block under the second. Wouldn't that need additional work on my drain pipe? Am I explaining it correctly? I would rather have a larger barrel as we are in a drought right now. Thanks for your reply. Donna

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 know many of you are going to think I'm crazy for this, but bear with me and read to the end please. I'm sorry you are going through this with your HOA but there are ways to deal with it that give you the moral high-ground and avoid conflict. And you get to keep the barrels where they are. First of all, don't remove the rain barrels. Second, the HOA is within their rights to tell you that you have to submit a request. You moved into an HOA neighborhood so you have to live with them now. I did too and I've had a few letters I didn't like, but I know that's part of the bargain. You may not have interpreted the Association's laws to mean your rain barrels, but obviously they did. Write up your 'plan', include photos and diagrams, include the Green Law and think about including a couple options for them to consider. Such as 1. they approve the barrel installation they way it is, 2. they agree to approve it if you put up one or two sections of fence to block the view of the barrels from the street, or 3. they agree to approve it if you plant a shrub or two in front of the barrels to block their view from the street, or 4. whatever creative idea you can come up with. They are more likely to approve the barrels than to ask you to remove them. They just have to go through the process. If they don't with you, then they are on shaky legal ground the next time when they want to ask your neighbor to remove the 15 foot dayglo orange squirrel statue from his yard. You are a long way from needing an attorney. Why pay an attorney to do something you can do yourself. At this point, the HOA hasn't been unreasonable (not really, although the smiley face is seriously irritating!) and they have given you the opportunity to respond. Attorneys are the last step in any process and almost no good comes of their involvement. Threatening to take legal action doesn't do any good because HOA's know they are within their rights and don't care how many attorneys you know. You either talk to an attorney or you don't; skip the threat. The end result should be that you get to keep your barrels, the HOA is reasonably happy, your neighbors are reasonably happy, no attorney has made more money off your problem, and everyone is happy knowing a problem was tackled and resolved. You continue living where you do with no hard feelings on any side and more rainbarrels sprouting up all over the neighborhood. Kate