You want to line the bottom of the barrel with clean gravel.
													
																	Rain barrel filter diy. 
									
	
		
	
																	Rain water it is already pretty pure and clean but the system isn t 100 sealed. 
																	The final barrel that the water comes to in the system the center barrel will be the filter barrel. 
																	River rocks diy rain barrel. 
																	For gardening it s best to leave the rainwater unfiltered but for household use you can create a simple and cheap filter. 
															
													
									
	
		
	
																	And it wouldn t take up much space so it wouldn t draw. 
																	Collecting rainwater was extremely common only a hundred or so years ago. 
																	The instructions in household discoveries and mrs. 
																	It requires only a garbage can and a few simple hand tools. 
															
													
									
	
		
	
																	Most people purchase one that is about 65 gallons that has a brass spigot attached to the bottom. 
																	Curtis s cookbook are quite basic as everyone had a rain barrel back then and presumably knew how to filter rainwater. 
																	Now 104 years later i am thankful the authors had the foresight to preserve their knowledge for us and pointed out that rainwater collected in barrels from a roof is. 
																	So this water catchment source would be great for smaller items like watering a small garden or some flowers. 
															
													
									
	
		
	
																	Filtering it makes sure there aren t any surprises in it.