My rain barrel failed after 3 months and flooded my basement

I put in a 55 gallon rain barrel back in April to collect runoff from my downspout. Thought I was doing something good for the drought and my water bill. Last Thursday I came home from work to find water leaking from a crack near the bottom seam. The plastic just gave out, probably from the pressure. Ended up with about 10 gallons of water in my basement before I caught it. Had to rent a shop vac from Home Depot for $25 to clean it all up. Drained the barrel and patched the crack with epoxy, but I don't trust it now. Anyone else have plastic rain barrels fail on them? What did you switch to that actually holds up?

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1 Comment

leo_lopez1mo agoTop Commenter

Did you read that Consumer Reports article about metal barrels lasting way longer?