I've been harvesting rainwater for about 14 years now. Recently I joined the City of Los Angeles Rainwater Harvesting Program and they gave me a free rainwater barrel and put it into place beneath my downspout. They're also providing a free 1 hour consult w a landscape architect to consult on how to get the water to where I need (so I don't have to continue carrying it in a watering can). The barrel they gave us is black, has a net at the top to catch debris so it won't fall into your harvested water and has 2 spouts - one near the top & one near the bottom - for outflow of the harvested water. I want more! I got it from Erika: Malcolm Pirnie, Inc. Attn: Erika Kennelly 888 West 6th Street, 3rd Floor Los Angeles, CA 90017 Fax- (213) 614-9003 (562) 597-0231 ekennelley@pirnie.com Right now this is a test program in my general area (WLA) and the city is trying to figure out if they can afford to continue to support this effort. I urge anyone living in the LA City area to call or e Erika and ask her about their program. There's also a few current listing for various barrels on craigslist, here's a sample one, this barrel is bright blue w no holes/spouts: http://inlandempire.craigslist.org/grd/1558852085.html

Hi I built a 5x10 x3 deep made of stacked 4x4's lined with a fiberglass tarp. Holds 1000 gallons for around 300 bucks . The problem has been that I couldn't resist planting it so now it's actually a water garden complete with fish . Obviosly this means I can't use all the water ,lol When I gave up my Marine aquarium I decided to use the tank for rainwater .150 gallons in a space 18x72. Same problem . Added plants and fish so can't use the water lol. Wasn't sure I could keep an aquarium outdoors but it's actually been easier than keeping one indoors. Have even been able to keep it warm through winter with a simple aquarium heater. with a boost from some styrofoam insulation on cold nights. I now use the aquarium as a reservoir for the waterfall. Guess what? I planted the entire face of that too lol What I need is some place to store rainwater for the terrestrial plants ?? lol gary

watch craigslist! That is how I got three of them last year, for FREE. Moni

If you have no luck with craigslist, you can buy pretty cheap trash cans from home depot for around 15 bucks and cut them in half and drill holes in them. They even come with a pair of wheels to make moving it around a little easier (although they are cheap wheels).