Side by Side Comparison of: Enviro World FreeGarden RAIN vs Oatey vs Amerimax Home Products vs Flex-Drain

This is my third season with the Enviro rain barrels and today I am ordering my 5th barrel. This design suits my gutter/downspout configuration perfectly. The barrels are sturdy and well designed, especially the concave top which catches water well. Each barrel is propped up on two hollow concrete blocks. Our Florida downpours were causing issues with gutter overflow and fascia damage so we just cut the end caps off the gutters and let the water flow into the barrels like a waterfall. I have four barrels in a square and link them at the top with short pieces of the overflow pipe that comes with the barrel. A downpour will fill up these 4 barrels in 10 minutes so to quickly divert water to my garden, I purchased four Wayne 66000-WYN1 1.5" x 25 ft sump pump hose kits to attach at the top of two barrel overflow outlets (one of the others was used to make a 50 foot run to the garden; the other is in reserve.) Each metal spigot has a 50 foot hose which slowly drains to various spots in the garden. I keep mosquito tabs in the barrels. Leaking is no problem because the barrels sit in a gravel water retention pit away from the house (part of my rain garden). The 5th barrel is for a similar "waterfall" at the other end of the 30 foot 6 inch gutter (we have 4 downspouts besides the two open ends.) When I need to water, I just pop the lid off the barrels (I did not screw them on, rather weigh them down with blocks) and scoop out water that remains below the spigots with a 2 gallon bucket. At the end of the rainy season, I am able to easily clean out these barrels and box them together for storage.

This is a really well made rain barrel. Mine came with a solid brass spigot so I have no idea why people are saying otherwise. Maybe the company changed suppliers who knows? Capacity is large and I really like how the top screws down so animals and people can't climb into the barrel. I've looked at other barrels and making my own and this seems like the best barrel for the quality and price.

Barrel works great and looks quite nice. I was happy to discover that the company is now including brass fittings again. According to old reviews, the company was including plastic in the past. It accumulates water easily, and I like how easy it was to install.

I purchased the Enviro World rain barrel in late spring at a sale price on Amazon. Went through a heavy storm. Everything worked as designed. Very pleased with its performance so I purchased another one.Like all other reviewers already stated, the top cover design is well done and promote little to no spilling during the heavy rain storm. The overflow works well. I redirected the overflow to fill two large clean trash cans before redirect it back to the down sprout. The faucet would not allow a bucket at its original height, so we raised it up with blocks before the rain. After the first rain, we use the spigot . Since that, the spigot leaked a little. When we used up the water, we caulked the spigot from the inside. There's been no leak after that. Overall, very pleased with its performance and quality.I should also mention before purchasing this rain barrel, I reviewed the requirement of our local water district's rain barrel program. The design of the barrels satisfy that of the rain barrel rebate program. We submitted the rebate application after installation and was approved. I am sure there are other barrels on the market that also qualify. But this is the one I personally preferred.

The best feature of this Environ World Rain Barrel is that it has a removable lid. That's right, the entire top is pressure fit and comes off so you can easily clean out the barrel. For those with concerns about animals or children falling in, the lid can be screwed down (screws provided) for safety. I took off one star because we have a 3x4 downspout and do not think the overflow hose will be able to accommodate the extra water. This is not a problem for us because the diverter is on a downspout that drains underground so when the barrel is full, I will flip the switch. Those without that option might have a problem. I will test it this season and upgrade my rating if appropriate. The spigot is rather high on the barrel. Getting to the last few gallons of water is not a big problem since the entire top is removable. You can take the top off and dip your bucket in from the top. And while you are at it, swish the water and dump it out to clean the bottom. Piece of cake!

Only rain barrel I found that had a slanted top and a fine mesh screen in the center to filter out even the tiniest debris. I purchased two barrels. I received the barrels and got them both set up right before some rain fall. They were very easy to set up. I live in a high drought area and am pleased that I am able to water my ornamental flowers and some grass without using city water. I am planning on purchasing two more and starting a food garden. Thank you Enviro World!

Made my own water barrel, and everything works perfectly. The barrel must be a closed system in order to reroute all the water back to gutter's down spout when full. Get the 1-1/4 Banjo NPT fitting for the barrel end. Lay the hose out in sun for a few days will help, wont be perfect but enough. See my water barrel system at youtube search "loa8RmKUYII".

Works pretty well. It was easy to install (you need a hacksaw or equivalent to cut the downspout, of course). We were surprised by how much water was collected. Obviously, the amount of water collected depends on the roof area feeding into the system as well as the rainfall. As others have noted, the flexible diverter hose going to the rain barrel needs to have the kinks straightened out a bit before installation. One small issue was that, in theory, when the barrel is full (it needs to be a closed barrel), the rainwater is supposed to back up in the diverter hose so that all additional water is sent back down the downspout. For that to work, you need a water-tight seal between the water barrel and the diverter hose. Our first attempt did not have a very tight seal even with a hose clamp and so the additional rainwater continued to be diverted to the barrel and out of the connection to the top of the barrel instead of continuing through the downspout as intended. We have made some adjustments (filing off raised areas on the fitting to try to get a better seal) - but don't yet know if the fix was successful.UPDATE: the minor adjustment referrred to in the previous sentence worked perfectly. Now, when the rain barrel is full, the additional rainwater re-diverts to the downspout as designed. - Upgrading rating to 5 stars

This is a great rainwater diverter! It works well and is reasonably easy to install. If you have metal gutters it can be a little difficult cutting out the back part of the gutter but its not terribly frustrating or even time consuming. I'd also like to address a common comment mentioned in both the questions and reviews.To Connect this to a Blue 55 Gallon Food Barrel:1. Buy a 3/4 x 1/2 Reducing Male Adapter at your hardware store. (Picture included)2. Buy a small hose clamp. (also pictured)3. The threaded end of the PVC Adapter will fit in the smaller hole in your lid.4. Place the Hose Clamp around the Enclosed Tubing.5. Place the tubing over the other end of the adapter and secure the clamp.This filled an entire 55 gallon on the first mild rain we had. Realize however that the amount of water you collect is influenced by a lot of different factors including how much guttering you have and how many other down spouts are available.My only complaint about this product would be the tubing. It is very stiff and somewhat kinked. Overall I would much prefer something a little easier to work with. However given that it still collected a large amount of water and handled overflow correctly I can't complain too much.

I just purchased this ahead of a projected rainy weekend in Utah, which is a rarity in the second driest state. I measured exactly and ended up cutting out 6 1/2 inches of gutter vs. what the recommendation was. This allowed me to use the same hole for the gutter strap but regardless it is easy to push the sheet metal screw from the strap through the gutter to make a new hole if needed. I started with a Dremel tool to make the cut but a hacksaw was easier all around. Place cardboard behind the gutter before you cut and be patient, the back cut is the slowest. Took about 3-5 minutes per cut. Make sure you are above the top of your rain barrel. The hose that comes with it I am sure is fine but I used the corrugated hose that came with my rain barrels because it won't collapse and the black is less obtrusive.I filled both 55 gallon barrels in about 8 hours. Would have been much time less had I waited for the heavier rain that came overnight. My barrels are not the sealed type and so I can either divert the extra runoff away from the house with the hose from the barrel or use the plug that comes with the unit to winterized it. I chose to plug it until the next storm because the runoff from the downspout goes into my garden. It works exactly as others have said. The water sticks to the inside wall of the gutter and thus diverts easily to the barrels. Very little comes down the downspout until the barrels are full. I don't remember if it said this anywhere but obviously you can have it divert to either side.

'Thank you' whoever invented this thing. I've been struggling with the gutters going to my multiple rain barrels for years, having to re-build the spouts every winter when the barrels are not in use. Also, the barrels don't overflow during a heavy downpour. The reservoir system channels the water to the barrel at a regulated rate while some of the rainfall continues through the gutter spout. When the barrel is full and the water is backed up the tube to the mystic collector the water bypasses and continues down the gutter spout. If your rain barrel is the type that the water pours into an open hole you will need to put a fitting directly into the barrel for the tube to connect to or the water will not back up into the tube when full and your barrel will overflow. You can buy a pvc fitting for about a dollar. If you take your barrel out of service for the winter simply take the tube off and put a cap (included) on the opening. Easy install, no rivets,screws or glue.

Purchased this to divert water from the gutter into a rain barrel without having to install an overflow valve. Worked like a charm. When it first rained after installation, it filled up a 55 gallon rain barrel to the top and then diverted the water back thru the downspout after the barrel was topped off. It is a very heavy duty white plastic. It can be painted if you wanted to. Follow the instructions when installing so you do not cut too much out of your gutter (just holding it up and measuring by the size will make you cut out more gutter than you need to). The hose it comes with is thick plastic and is folded. You will need to remove the creases from the hose or the water will not flow thru. A blowdryer to heat up the creases while you bend it will work. Also comes with a stopper to plug up the diverter during the winter months. We initially ordered just one, to make sure it actually worked. We are very happy and have ordered more._______I forgot to add that this worked great on our rain barrel systems, as we have a closed top with bung holes. We left one bung hole closed and put the end of the hose thru the larger bung hole. If you have an open top rain barrel then it will just keep filling up and flowing over. The way this system seems to work is by pressure. As your rain barrel fills up, water is forced back up the hose and down the downspout. If you have an open top rain barrel (no top or just a screen) then there is no way to generate the pressure to stop the flow of water into the barrel once filled.Also: these will fill up a 55 gal rain barrel pretty quickly, even with just a normal amount of rainfall.

Bought this product to replace a rain barrel that has a top cover that is a removable screen. I move the heavier barrel to another location as it was filling fast from hard rains that we were getting. Not much rain now so have not been able to fully test this barrel. Two things have removed a star from my review. It is a small thing, but the top is to be screwed down and not easy to clean pine needles. Other barrel had a spigot and a hose. This barrel does not have a hose, but the spigot is better than the one on my old barrel. I am replacing my all of my existing gutters with larger ones. Hopefully we get a good rain before that is done to test how this barrel catches rain. Top is slopped, so should be better. I also like the fact that this barrel has the ability to add another barrel. I plan to harvest as much rain as i can. I have 3 different types of barrels and need a good rain to see if i should purchase and connect another Enviro World 55 Gallon Rain Barrel.

Finally got around to installing the barrel. I love that the top comes off so the barrel can be cleaned yearly.I chose to attach my barrel to a down spout diverter and I was surprised that the "over flow outlet" can not be used as an inlet from a diverter. I had to drill out holes on the inside of the barrel to make it work with my diverter.If you are using it as a top fill, it will work very well, but if you are hooking it up to a down spout diverter you will need to do a little extra work.I don't think I will order this barrel for the rest of my down spouts, but it is a high quality product for top fill barrels.

I use it for collecting waste water from my water filtration system. Works great except for three qualms. One, the spigot opening must be very narrow because the flow rate is very low, even if the reservoir is totally full and the spigot is totally open. Two, the overflow runoff doesn't work and so it just overflows off the top. Three, the spigot is really close to the ground so you can't fit a bucket or watering can under it. I ended up making a 6" riser for it so I could fit containers under the spigot. Other than that, it holds water well! Its main job.

Here in drought stricken Los Angeles, rain barrels are becoming common. The state will chip in $75 each if you buy and use them. To that end, I purchased 3. These are very well made and sturdy and seem of high quality. Unfortunately, mine arrived with plastic not brass spigots as stated in the item title. It will probably be OK as these are quality plastic spigots and don't really have to hold any pressure to speak of.Note that I only received 2 of the 3 needed spigots! I contacted customer service via phone and spoke with Allan D. I didn't want to return the barrel as they are huge and it would be a complete waste to do so. He found the spigot from Enviro World as a separate item and placed it in my cart. I one-click ordered it and he processed a refund on the cost. Problem solved! Kudos to Amazon for embowering their customer service to directly and efficiently solve issues! Thanks!I'll update review when it rains!!

For the price it is a good barrel, least expensive I could find. The top comes off for ease of bucketing out the water, which is the way I water the plants in the area where this barrel is placed. This barrel is utilitarian and less eye appealing than my other barrels and so placed out of general view. As with my other barrels of different makers, the water flow from the spigot is very slow, which is why I bucket out the water as I need it; my other barrels have bottom access also. The only defect for my purposes is that there is no access valve at the bottom to allow use of all the water in the barrel without tipping the barrel. For cost effectiveness, I recommend this barrel.

I enjoy gardening but due to our California drought I feel the guilt to conserve water. After purchasing 2 of these my only regret is not doing it sooner. With that said I had been browsing for something like this since last year, and had not come across this product until earlier this year. So maybe not so bad that I waited.Price: These seem to be priced lower than many products of the same size, but come with all or more features than most of what I have come across. I wanted to purchase a 3rd one but noticed they were not available from the same supplier for some time. It was still available but at almost double the price! should not be more than $80 range.Shipping/packaging: Big item so it comes in a big box. Box itself is very light. One of the two I bought was missing directions and 1 of the 4 screws. Some reviews have mentioned missing parts so I don't doubt it and it is concerning but due to my experience will still order another and hope for the best. The directions can be printed from Enviro World's website, so not a big deal even if I had only ordered one and it had not come with directions. The box with missing items did have a tore up corner, not a huge tear but a tear big enough for a screw to fall out. This is a problem as the screws and clamp hose are shipped in a small plastic baggie with no closure. The screws had come out of the bag and were loose in the big box when I opened it. A sandwich type zip lock baggie would work better. The screws are used to secure the top lid, using 3 has worked just fine so not a big issue but should still come with the package.Set up: Set up was easy. Just make sure you have the proper tools and knowledge to cut your downspout. Youtube will help. I connected both of my barrel's to the same spout to get the most out of my work on this spout. Connecting both barrel's was also easy. The most difficult part was pushing the hose onto the second barrel. You really have to use some muscle to get it on(i'm 5'10 210 lbs weightlift 4-5 x week). I didn't get it on all the way but not a problem as it is very secure anyways. You will only come across this if connecting 2 or more barrel's. With this said I will add a 3rd to my system as 2 barrel's have proven to fill up quickly even with our limited rain.Quality/Functionality: The quality is very good. I don't see why this wouldn't last a very long time. The spigot looks and feels like good quality. I have noticed no leaks, but only time will tell as it is the only moving part. I like the lid having a slight slope toward the screen, I'm guessing this helps get all the water in the barrel and reduces the necessity for exact preciseness when cutting the downspout. The screen works very well to keep junk out but allows all water in. I have experienced rain twice since I set both barrel's together. Both times it was maybe a couple of hours of rain and both times the result was 2 full barrel's. Nice! Which is why I will set up a third to the same system. The spigot is at a good height, it allows me to fit my watering can but also get most of the water from the barrel. The water does flow slower once you are getting near the bottom, but that's physics and not a design flaw.Looks: The picture on amazon says it all. It has a clean look. I like it, but would be nice if this company offered a nicer looking product. I have mine set up on the side of our house so it doesn't matter much for my current system. Once I set up something in our backyard I might consider something different, like the one's that look like a large planter to better fit our backyard décor. Overall looks good but don't expect compliments based on just looks.Overall: Works great. Should last a very long time. Would be a definite 5 star but missing screw and instructions and loose packaging keep me from rating it as such. Not ugly, but nicer looking options would also be nice. Will buy a 3rd for my current system.

Easy to install, filled my rain barrel in one short rainfall. Seems that water can spill out the side of the diverter (causing unwanted water too close to the house) in a heavy rain as it can't flow down the diverter tube quickly enough (I checked to make sure nothing was clogged, and the diverter is installed 24" above the barrel as specified in the instructions). Not sure if this could be ameliorated if the top & bottom pieces were tighter fitting or had some sort of gasket. (Included picture: water still flows down the downspout properly but some is bubbling out of the side of the diverter)

I bought this as a solution to an overflowing rain barrel that I had. During torrential downpours, my overflow hose wasn't enough to handle it and it was spurting out of my inlet, which was an open funnel-type system. I bought this and when I installed it, it just didn't seem like it would work. I couldn't imagine how enough water would get caught in the catchment area. I thought most would just go straight out of the gutter. I was quite wrong. This this works! It easily cost most of the water, there was water coming out of the overflow, and water coming down the gutter. So, problem solved.Install was easy. I have blue, food-grade barrels. The bung holes come with an inner 3/4" tap that just needs to be drilled out. I added a $0.36 adapter from the plumbing aisle and a hose clamp and I was in business with a working closed-system.I gave it 4 stars because water is overflowing slightly from the seam where the top fits into the bottom. I will likely seal it with silicon.

I was a bit skeptical when I first got it, could't figure how it would divert much water to my barrel, but I guess rainwater does run down the sides of a downspout, rather than falling down the middle. Granted, it does not collect as much as a diverter that directs 100% of the water, but there is a lot less debris left on the top screen or settling at the bottom of my barrel. The only negative thing I experienced so far is the hose provided... it comes collapsed and rolled so tightly that it takes forever to reshape it and get it to stay open... even after leaving it "warming in the sun" as the directions advise. I finally gave up and just cut a small segment to use as a sleeve to join a one inch PVC pipe to the outlet instead.

I can't believe all the sub-par reviews.Install was simple. Hose was a little obnoxious yes, but I was able to use it just fine after stretching it out as instructed. Heavy rain, no problem, full barrel, no problem, all these reviews claiming it doesn't work? You did it wrong!

We installed this a couple weeks ago and finally had some rain yesterday. This device easily filled our new rain barrel. It also looks nicer and keeps the rest of the downspout connected. One of our sump pumps connects to the same downspout so I didn't want to just cut off the downspout and leave the bottom open.The drawback - although the instructions say to install it 12" above your rain barrel - this will only work if your barrel has no other open outlets. Our barrel is open on top and covered with a screen. I wanted to install it next to the barrel - figuring that we need it no higher than the screen on top of the barrel. My husband wanted to install it higher. We went with his height. The barrel of course overflowed through the top screen and didn't cause the back-up into the tubing that would prevent more rain from coming into the barrel. We are going to have to put an overflow hose on our barrel to keep this from happening again.It's a great product - but definitely think about your style of barrel and the height when you are choosing the position of this device.

To fight the drought in CA, I installed this on one of our down spout.Installation Tip:=================The hose came with kit is too short and stiff for anything. I bought a Flotec FP0012-6U-P2 Universal Discharge Hose Kit, 24-Feet by 1-1/4-Inch or 1-1/2-Inch to replace the one in kit. It fits just right, bought an additional hose clamp(1 came with hose kit), 1 clamp to diverter, the other over the inlet of rain barrel. Very easy to install and cheap. The hose is pretty long, but it can be cut at 3 places. (I guess you can cut anywhere, but I chose to cut at the flat section, so it's easy to clamp).Problem 1.=================The bottom part of the divert that supposed to slid into the down spout is a little too big, it is impossible to slide in, I even tried to hammered it in.Fix:I ended up use a hand saw to scrap some plastic off 2 of the corners, so it's a little bit thinner and smaller. A utility blade prob will do the work too, but I didn't want to accidentally cut off too much.Problem 2:=================It did not collect very much water during a full day of raining. the problem is the interior design of the diverter. Most of rain water would go through center of diverter and out into the down spout, only around the perimeter of divert would divert water out into the small outlet and to rain barrel. So, unless the rain is so heavy that it fills the entire interior section, most water would simply go right through the middle section.Fix:I cut diagonally through a water bottle, place the bottom section of the bottle over the middle section of the diverter interior, so it forms a cap and covers the middle section to divert all rain water into outlet. Today, after only a few hours of raining, I have 1 foot of water in the 275 gallon tote.

UPDATE 10/10/17:I take my 5-star rating back ... turns out the concave top isn't such a great idea when there is heavy rain ... the (too) small overflow hole/tube is grossly inadequate in this situation, so the rain coming out of downspout flows back over the top and down the sides of the barrel. Consequently, the ground is washing out below the barrel, which is up about 6 inches from the ground -- which was fortified -- on a very sturdy DIY wood stand.Even if another barrel was connected, I don't believe the overflow opening could begin to handle the amount of water we get in even an average rain storm here on the central east coast of Florida. I left in place during Hurricane Irma, in part because the barrel's placement was somewhat protected ... but I left the spigot open and had drained it most of the way in advance.Maybe I should have installed a diverter ... will look into that. I will say that just being raised about 6" there was enough of a gravity pull to allow for watering new plantings within about 10 feet of the barrel. It didn't do it quickly, and the barrel was full to start.One last thing, now I've got to remove the top in order to clean off the small gravel that washes off my roof each time it rains. Not a huge deal, but a bit of a pain when it's 90+ degrees with equal humidity -- I like to limit my time outside in these conditions!*****************************************************************What a great rain barrel. I was going to try a DIY, but to get a reasonably durable, flat-back trash can (for me, it had to fit close to the side of house, to minimize potential wind resistance in case of storms with high winds, and to minimize its footprint) that would hold up to a lot of tropical sun exposure, and that was easy to fit to gutter downspout, my options were going to cost more than this product -- and that was before buying a good quality spigot and overflow materials. I really LOVE that the top is concave ... before it was even set up with downspout, it captured rain!Instead of wrestling with the strapping holding lower downspout to house (it was right up against a galvanized fence), we just cut the portion out that would allow the curved lower section to be reattached where it would naturally then dump right into the barrel. I'd put a piece of screen around the end of that curved extension, to keep a lot of leaves from gutters blocking the built-in screen on the barrel (and to keep little critters such as lizards from making a home inside), but will remove it now after a couple of rains -- I think it'll be easier to just brush off any leaves that end up on the barrel lid that wind doesn't displace and let the lizards make their own decision!I also put a piece of screen (secured with cable ties) to the end of overflow discharge, for much the same reason -- keeping critters out. That seems to be working well. I have the overflow tube running out over a long, wide dispersion "panel" that I think I got on Amazon months ago, to help prevent the downspout's gushing from washing out soil (despite a traditional splash pad). This heads the water just a bit downhill towards my budding compost pile.I've been fortunate to have had a young couple who both are certified permaculturists helping me "rehab" my yard, and they built a short stand for this rain barrel out of scrap lumber I had. It's up on a couple of bricks to help prevent rot and to level the barrel. They were able to water new plantings for the first time a few days ago from the rain barrel with a regular hose.I plan to add these rain barrels to most of my downspouts over the next year. A great product, easy to set up, a terrific design, definitely of very, very good quality.Thanks for making a rain barrel worthy of the name! And it doesn't hurt that several colors are available ... my green one cost no more than the black or white one (other colors from different suppliers weren't Prime shipping).

Not too thrilled with it but somewhat satisfied. Main reason for not giving 4-5 stars is because the rubber washer that comes with for spigot is cheap/small and leaks. It's the inconvenience of having to run to Home Depot for a better washer which gave 3 stars. It is pretty much a guarantee your spigot will leak using the cheap washer. Not sure why the manufacture refuse to spend add'l 10 cents for a better spigot?

This is doing a great job of diverting downspout water into garden and beyond. The fitting at bottom for hose isn't 100% sealed so it still dribbles at the bottom by the fitting but the look and style is nice on our homes exterior, a smaller footprint than larger barrels I have purchased in the past, also neutral colour doesn't impose on garden decor.

easy to assemble, and works like a charm!UPDATE - Changed from 5 star to 3 -- I made sure it was empty before the freezing weather came in --- spring started to come early, we had a little rain and probable accumulation of 1-2 inches of water ... it froze -- AND CRACKED THE BOTTOM OF THIS BARREL! This was the 2nd barrel I purchased, damaged by the cracking --- not gonna happen again.

Pros: the barrel is large and easy to install. All you need to do is clear and level a pad and cut the downspout to fit the height of the can.Cons: The package came missing the hose clamp and the spigot is NOT brass, it is a cheap plastic spigot that leaked. The first storm we had filled the bucket and after a few days it all leaked out of the spigot. I had to replace it with a brass one from the hardware store. That was an additional cost to make barrel operational. The size of it made it impractical to return so we chose to fix it instead of return it. Buyer beware.

Decently constructed with the exception of the hose bib. The supplied 1/2" hose bib is a piece of junk. Ours came apart internally a little over a month after purchase and could not be opened.If you buy one of these, don't even bother with the supplied hose bib - go buy a better one from Home Depot or Lowes.

had to return; didn't fit in our small down spouts; stuck out too far from the wall

Works pretty good for collecting rainwater and keeping large particles out, but kind of a pain if you don't have an overflow protector on your rain barrel. I have to remove the hose and put the plug in to keep it from overflowing my barrel.

"Works" with MAJOR CAVEATS! SEE: [...] for installation. Unfortunately, I seem to have a "special size pipe", just smaller than the ideal! (2 7/8" x 1 7/8")-- Bottom half Too Tight a fit, needed to "crimp" my pipe with pliers to make fit, therefore only able to fit <1/2" or less inside. So stabilized with duct tape around it, which is Not exactly attractive (but in backyard so livable). Since tight fit/most of water will run down pipe & NOT into diverter, so Duct Taped hole of Bottom Section leaving only 3/4" x 1 1/2" side slit open for "overflow".-- Top section Too loose so slides down to sit right on top of bottom section, which leaves very little room for water to go into bottom section & Large Gap at top so if heavy rain will all pour out at the top. So, Duct Taped top section to not slide down so much.NOT TERRIBLY ATTRACTIVE with all the Duct Tape! If this sound like TOO MUCH WORK, Recommend Get Another Brand!(I was determined to make it work after cutting a 6" section of pipe!)

I purchased this diverter for my new 55 gal rain barrel. My barrel has a screen on the top so there was no way to seal the connection around the hose. At first, the dirverter worked well. The barrel was full in no time. Once the barrel was full, the water did not divert back through the downspout like it was supposed to. After a hard rain, water was going everywhere...out of the barrel and squirting out of the connection between the diverter and downspout. It looks like the hole for the rain water to go back through to the downspout is not big enough for it to handle a heavy rain. Maybe if the hose was sealed on the top of the barrel, it may work better (?) Not sure...

The unit itself is heavy duty and made well. After installing it on the downspout I first changed out the awkward plastic hose with a 1 1/4 inch inside diameter flexible hose that I purchased locally. It was a step up from the included one. It does collect some water but not as much as I expected. I've had a few heavy rains so far and my 40 gallon rain barrel is only 1/4 full. When I purchased this I thought it may fill up the container faster than it actually does. It just trickles a small amount through the tube to the barrel sending the majority of water down the downspout. I would like it better if it filled the barrel up quickly. I will most likely send it back for a refund and try to figure out another way to collect water.

I understood that when the water barrel was full the Mystic Rainwater Collection diverter would close and the water would then go down the down spout. My rain barrels filled to capacity during a recent storm but one of the diverters does not seem to close and the water continues to run into the rain barrel so that the rain barrel overflows instead of going down the downspout which goes to a collection area further down the yard. I checked the opening in this collection area and very little water is coming out. Both were installed exactly the same, just one seems not to work.

It leaks from the top, even when screwed. It leaks from the side where the plastic tube attaches to the barrel. You won't know any of this until it fills up for the first time, and you inspect. Of course, now that the barrel has 50-ish gallons of water in it, you can't move it to adjust all the settings. I'll have to wait for the rain to stop, empty out the barrel into already soggy ground, and see if I can jimmy any sort of solution.

The spout mounting area needs to be reinforced. There is also about a 3 gallon area below the spout so that water cannot be drained without tipping it over.

Quite a few things that are wrong w this item... We had major delivery issues. OK, by now they are overcome but that was not good. More importantly, the spout is a joke and simply not functioning. The natural pressure of the water is so low that there is barely any water coming out of the spout. It always feels clogged although it isn't. Hence, forget trying to add a hose to use for direct garden watering... nothing coming out of the hose. Second, you can't put a normal 5 gallon bucket below it b/c the spout is too low. And lastly, once the water level gets below the spout you got to lean into the barrel to empty it. Not very well thought through.

I returned the barrel. It arrived with the front crushed in, missing hose, and a plastic water spigot not the brass one advertised.

One of the reasons I purchased 2 of these barrels was the fact that they are advertised as having brass spigots!!! Was very surprised when I got them yesterday to find plastic spigots and not brass! Have to see how these work out but not happy!

Barrel worked well at first during the summer months, but because the spigot is raised, it's impossible to completely drain the barrel without dumping it out. The remaining water froze, consequently expanded, and split the barrel open. Even without the freezing water aspect, the raised spigot is annoying.

we hooked this up per instructions. The water does not go into the side slot as we expected. Most of it goes straight down the rest of the gutter like normal. We are not very thrilled with the product. Wish we had bought something else.

This is exactly what I needed! Filters water right to my barrel, I just wish it filtered more water to my barrel. It takes a lot of rain to fill my barrel.

Won't install unless your gutters are the exact perfect shape. Mine are the right dimensions but square instead of rounded, so I ended up having to use brute force. Also seems to work much less effectively if it is not 100% level (another reason you need a perfect fit).Again, if your gutter is not: 1) the 2x3 "rounded rectangle" style and 2) hanging straight down you will probably find this a frustrating purchase.That said it does work even in suboptimal conditions and trickle-filled a 55 gallon drum over a week or so of light rains. So for your purposes it may be adequate.

I was hoping to divert and filter most of my downspout rain to my barrel. This design is a pass-through downspout and will only divert a portion of the water into my barrel. It had potential but they stopped short of a real good solution. The description reads "channels rainwater flow from the sides of the downspout while allowing debris such as leaves and dirt to go down the center." Do you realize how much rain is also going through the center along with the debris? Tons more rain than is being collected. If you are truly trying to collect/harvest as much rain as possible, I recommend researching and finding another solution/product. I'm still searching.I will, probably, chop this thing up into something more useful for my needs.

Although this looks well made and fairly simple to install, you can't tell by looking at the picture that just a small amount of water around the edges inside the device actually go into the outlet and into the rain barrel while the rest of the water flows on down the pipe. As the reviews of this product were very good, I ordered 2 but returned them (cost $5.00 for return shipping). What I really am looking for is a simple "Y" gutter spout with a diverter which used to be fairly common, but for some reason now is very scarce and when you do find them very overpriced. However, you can find a variety of complicated, high priced and questionably designed products that may or may not do the job as well.

Living in NM we don't get much rain, the few times I tried this I got maybe 20% of the water into my rain barrels and most went right though, didn't seem worth it. Instead I put mesh over the gutters to keep the leaves out, plumbed the gutter straight into my rain barrel with a ball valve to redirect the water if needed. Four months in that works a heck of a lot better than a system that only collected about 20% of the water

Others are correct, I received a plastic faucet/fitting, not brass. I set it up last summer. Towards the end of the summer, the barrel stretched enough that the faucet pulled loose and dumped 50 gallons of water into my flower bed. Now it's spring and I went to set it up again and fix the faucet, but even drained properly, the emotive bottom broke.

To begin with, when it arrived I was unhappy with the design. The spigot is 10"-12" above the bottom of the barrel - I had hoped the space below the spigot was hollow, a raised platform of some kind to get the spigot off the ground. It was not.I hand tightened the spigot into place, because the direction warn against over tightening. It leaked. I went back and tightened a bit further with a couple of wrenches, this temporarily stopped the leaking.When I hooked a hose up to the spigot, the spigot moves, loosening the seal, causing the barrel to leak. I go back in and tighten the spigot again. At this point the spigot washer is destroyed, the spigot still moves freely, ever loosening the nut on the inside of the barrel.The barrel is leaking. I empty it. There is a crack in the bottom. I have no idea how it got there, if it was there when I got it and didn't notice. It really doesn't matter, because it's not like I am banging this barrel around. I lives stationary on top of a platform, never to move, never subject to impact.On the whole, this thing is a piece of junk. It will only waste your money and time. I am unable to return it.

The base cracked after one season, it was a mild winter and we had it supported at the base, very disappointing experience

We bought this in Feb 2015, and by winter 2015 it stopped collecting water. We assumed there was a problem with our gutter and with the warm weather, finally got around to looking into it. Turns out that there is a 9-10 inch crack on the bottom of the rain barrel and the water has been seeping out for months. We're very disappointed with this purchase and absolutely do not recommend that you purchase it.

Initially I was in love with this rain barrel. Easy to install and sits flush up against the house. Unfortunately after just one use the spigot has come loose and pulls away from the barrel all together, leaving a gapping hole! All of my rain water that I worked so hard to collect, just drips right out... The barrel design is great concept, however the spigot design and attachment is very poor. i would not recommend this rain barrel. I shouldn't have to constantly unscrew the lid and try to re-secure the spigot with rubber gaskets for the price I paid.

Website states it comes with a brass fitting. Typical bait and switch to some cheap ass piece of plastic.

Product arrived on time, That is the only good news. Product is well constructed but poorly engineered. I will be lucky if I can collect 5 % of the runoff from my downspouts. After installation I ran the garden hose into the gutters on the roof. very little water was collected. I must of poured 100 gallons into the gutter . I collected about 2 gallons. If I was in a dire need for water , this collection device would be the cause of my death., I am looking for a way to RETURN them .

What a let down. The hose is so stiff it's impossible to work with. It literally takes days in the blazing hot sun to get it pliable enough to bend and expand to your needs. Its made in 2 parts, but the top part just rests inside the bottom part, there's no seal to keep water from escaping all around the joint. So the first rain overwhelmed it right away. Wish i could get my money back but I've had them too long.

Plastic drain tubing was kinked and flat. Stiff drain tubing could not be opened enough to drain water even after heating to soften to try to shape it to stay open..Poor design as the water is supposed to run along the inner walls of the drain to be diverted to the hose spout. So little water is diverted that the system is effectively useless. Would not recommend this product.

OMG I actually bought 2 of these. Wasted my Friday off installing them, we had the heaviest rain we had all year,...and I was out there tweaking and rigging so my foundation didn't get soaked (the whole idea of having gutters) Misleading piece of junk! doesn't fit standard gutters, and the instructions in box differ from their you tube video. Now I have cut up gutters that I need to fix, thanks Oatey for ruining my weekend. Going back. If I could give negative stars I would.

 Purchased several of these diverters for my rain barrels. They do not work as represented. In theory the water in the downspout gets interrupted and transfers to the rain barrel – when the rain barrel is full, the water is supposed to continue in the downspout to the yard drain. … Though not mentioned in the instructions, this ONLY works with a CLOSED SYSTEM rain barrel – otherwise the water continues, overflowing the barrel (defeats the purpose of rain gutters with foundation flooding). Calling the Oatey technical support line confirms this and that company information does not mention the issue. Secondly, the device leaks (see video – view with QuickTime) – in a heavy rain the two piece diverter cannot handle a heavy downpour and leaks at connection point for the two pieces (also, the supplied plug does not positively cut off flow and contributes to the leaking – again, defeats the purpose of raingutters with foundation flooding). Third – even if the product worked, the diverter hose shipped with some of the items (since I ordered several, I received two different types of hose) are stiff – no matter what you do (i.e., leave out in the sun, use a hot blower, insert a dowel to attempt to straighten out kinks) they are not pliable and do not allow for a connection without kinks. The other type that was included in some are soft and easily pliable – technical support was unaware of two types and states the hose only needs to be left out in the sun or heated (this does not help).Only gave one star as that is the lowest possible - THIS PRODUCT IS A TOTAL WASTE OF MONEY – worst of two worlds – contributes to foundation flooding and does not allow for efficient rainwater harvesting - basically does not work as expected or represented. If you choose to ignore my warning and purchase this product anyway, I caution you NOT to place your downspout in line / adjacent to your foundation vent – the leaking Oatey will divert some water directly to your foundation vent which will result in flooding your garage …. I learned the hard way (make that, the “wet way”).

The female half of the diverter - that goes around the upper end of your pipe - is 2.25" x 3.25 (inner measurements of the female part) but it's rounded. So if your pipe is actually 2"x3" and rectangular, not rounded, it won't slide over the pipe.The maile half of the diverter - that seats inside the lower end of your pipe is 2.2" x 3" and rounded (outer measurements of the male part), so it won't go inside a 2x3" downpipe, whether it's rounded or rectangular. Boy am I mad! mad! mad! I cut a 6" section out of my downspout, as directed. This product is not the size it advertises.