I set up our system in Fairbanks, Alaska. We had a downspout on each corner of the house leading to a separate blue plastic barrel and a wooden whiskey barrel. On each downspout I installed a manual diverter that I could open and close by tilting up or down a portion of the downspout itself. ou can buy these online. When the barrels were full, I closed the diverter. The rainwater then flowed out into the yard AWAY FROM THE FOUNDATION. I installed in each barrel two things: 1. an overflow port about 3 inches down from the top that I attached a short garden hose to and 2: a regular water spigot that I screwed into the bottom about 2 inches from the bottom. This was for emptying at the end of the summer and for gravity feed watering of my garden. On top of each barrel I had a piece of screen to keep junk and bugs out. Each barrel sat on a treated 4'x4' base made of treated 2"x4" lumber. Also, purely for aesthetics, I built a cedar box around the blue plastic barrels. At the end of summer I would drain each blue barrel and turn it upside down. The wooden barrel I just left it upright. The system worked very well. Hope this helps.
