Hello,

I was trying to figure out how to post this question on the rain barrel forum, but couldn't find a way to post. I've also scoured the internet already, to try to find the answer to my question, to no avail.

I have three rain barrels, one under a drain spout, and the other two I just connected by threaded gaskets/spouts (see picture) and hoses. My main barrel (the one on the right side of the picture) is 1/3 full of water right now, but it will NOT drain into the other barrels. They are on level ground, and the hose connecting to them has a little bit of slack, but not much.

I know that the opening in the bottom of the main barrel is not blocked by anything, because it gushes freely when I unscrew the hose.

I've made sure the tap on the barrel on the left side is open.

I've tried tipping the main barrel to see if I can get the flow going, but nothing.

I feel that gravity is being defied here... and that's the only explanation I can come up with.

Thank you thank you thank you.

Picture?
P.S. Welcome!

Whoops! Picture should be there now.

Could the hose be clogged?
Sounds like you can unscrew at the left tap and investigate.
It must be clogged somewhere. If flowing, the level in the two barrels should even out, right?

Unscrew the hose from the left faucet and see if the water flows out of the right tank. If it doesn't, as Sally suggested, the hose is clogged. Screw it onto a regular hose and blast whatever's in the hose out.

Unless there is a filter on the rain downspout, the bottoms of the barrels are going to collect debris. Have you turned on the faucet on the right barrel?

Normally, the water levels, meaning the weight of the water columns, will equalize, causing water to flow toward the lower pressure until they are equal. And they will flow out together.

You can, in fact fill whole the system from the bottom, if the downspout drains into a pipe whose top is level with the top of the barrels and whose bottom feeds into the joint bottom connection. The barrels will accept water so long as the water in the pipe receiving from the downspout is higher than the water level in the barrels. The downspout pipe just acts as another barrel, just much smaller diameter. The pressure per square inch is the same, no matter the volume of the pipe or barrel; only the height matters. When the water in the downspout pipe rises above the level in the barrels, water will flow to the barrels. It's not the usual way, but it does demonstrate how the barrels can be located at a distance from the downspout and the hose connection between them and from the downspout pipe run along the ground.

However, I can't see the tops of the barrels, so I have to ask if the top of the second barrel, the one without the flow from the gutter, it open to the atmosphere. If not, the water will only flow from the left to the right until the air, which is always above the water, is pressurized sufficient to resist the force of the water column in the left barrel, and that won't take long, because water almost can't be compressed, and the air has to take up all the pressure. There must be at least a vent to the outside in the top of the right barrel.

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the quick responses. The hose is not clogged, there is no debris in either barrel, and the water flows out of the right barrel just fine, when it is disconnected from the left barrel. The barrels all do have openings at the top, for air flow.

IntheHotofTexas, I'm having trouble envisioning the pipe that you described. I followed the directions in a a Youtube video called "Rain Barrel System 220 Gallons SHTF Water Storage Prepper Survivalist how to build make" ; for obvious reasons, this forum won't allow me to post links to other sites, in case it's spam.

However, my downspout is just over the barrels, not directly attached to them. I'm attaching another few pictures. Ignore the fact that the second barrel is also under a downspout... it's not worth going into.

Thanks all!

I'm stumped. I thought Inthehotoftexas had it, And that maybe that's where Daisy was going when she asked her last question.
Does that barrel around the corner work normally? If I am seeing that it is connected in the same way.

If you fill the left barrel above the faucet valve and disconnect the hose, will water flow out of the left barrel? There is always the possibility that the valve is bad, or has a loose washer or loose washer screw.
Another possibility is that one of the parts is aCHECK VALVE--a valve that only allows water to flow oneway and normally has arrows showing flow direction. Put a hose into the hose bib fitting of the right barrel and see if you can put water into it from the hose, if you can not, you may have a check valve between toe hose and the barrel.

BrooklynStart,
Yes!!!! I think that's the issue (the valve only allowing water to flow out). Thank you!!! And thanks to all. Silver lining to this whole ordeal, I stumbled across this awesome community. Hopefully one day, when I'm a more proficient gardener/water barrel user, I'll be able to pay it forward, haha.

Even if you put in the check-valve backwards, you still will not be able to completely fill your rain barrels with the current setup. I think you are going to have to raise the center barrel (the one the water goes into from the drainpipe) so the bottom is close to the height of the tops of the other two barrels and then move the fill hose so the center barrel drains from the bottom but the other two are filled from the top. Somewhere, that equalibrium Gerald was talking about will catch up with you and your barrels will fill to a certain height but the weight of the water will not allow the barrels to fill completely. The water doesn't weigh enough in the center barrel to push the water up in the side barrels.

It's great that you're close to installing a sewer system.

FYI, this thread is over a year old