Rainwater collection for my garden – barrel size question
Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2026 6:19 am
I've been trying to set up a decent rainwater harvesting system for my vegetable patch over in Al Ain, but I keep going back and forth on what size container actually makes sense without taking up half my yard. I started with a couple of small 50-liter bins and they filled up way too fast after one decent shower, so now I'm thinking bigger but I don't want to go overboard and end up with stagnant water sitting around for weeks. I came across this open-top drum that looks like it could hold a pretty good amount, and the 120 litres drum seems like a sweet spot that wouldn't be impossible to move around if I need to reposition it later. My main concern is whether the lid design keeps out mosquitoes and debris properly, because we get those tiny little flies that breed in standing water and I really don't want to deal with that headache. Also, has anyone tried connecting two of these together with some piping to increase capacity? I'm no plumber but I figure if I get one working well, I could always add another down the line. Would love to hear from anyone who's actually using these for their garden setup.