Water barrels are indispensable in many gardens. Perhaps only if you have a tank underground, you can do without a barrel. How to take care of rain barrels so that they last the winter without frost damage?
Empty everything you can
Have you ever stood over your barrel and wondered if it would survive the winter unscathed? Plastic shrinks and becomes brittle when it freezes, water increases its volume. When you put it all together, it can go very wrong. But don’t despair. This can be avoided with simple tricks that every gardener can do.
The first rule is clear. A barrel will not burst if there is no water in it. Above all, don’t forget drain all hoses and connections. Even a little water in the tap can literally pull the pipes out of the walls when it’s freezing. So it is necessary to drain the barrels and the water connections.
Frost, water and barrels. This is also the topic of this post from the Vidlák YouTube channel.
Tricks and improvisation
If you don’t want to empty the barrel completely or if you have some water left in it, simple tools will help. You can go to the barrel insert float.
The simplest is a PET bottle with a little sand so that it is partially submerged. The ice breaks around her and the pressure on the barrel walls is reduced. A floating piece of wood or another object that will partially peek out above the surface will also serve as well.
It also fits wrap the barrel with insulation. Bubble wrap is a classic, but feel free to use leftover cardboard after the package has been delivered. You can wrap the barrel from the bottom, from the sides and from the top, thereby creating a kind of thermal protection.
Above-ground barrels are not usually frost-resistant
Not every barrel is the same. Plastic barrels made of thin polypropylene are most at risk. They have a number of advantages, including affordability and ease of handling, but these containers crack easily, are difficult to repair, and ideally should not freeze even without water.
Even from polyethylene (PE) or high-density polyethylene (HDPE) they withstand the frost better and have a better chance of surviving without cracking, but even so it is better to pour out the water completely and ideally place the barrel somewhere where it will not freeze or winterize it. An old blanket or bubble wrap and other such larger pieces of material will also help you with this.
Metal or wooden barrels can usually withstand frost, but watch out for seams and cracks. But why risk it?
Concrete barrels they are a completely different league. They are heavy, almost immovable and frost usually doesn’t bother them, because concrete keeps its shape even with large temperature fluctuations.
A long-time cottage owner from Šumpersko, Mr. Jiří Pavlík, sees it this way. “We have concrete barrels at the cottage, they hold perfectly and maybe it wouldn’t hurt to leave the water in them over the winter, but I don’t see a reason to take unnecessary risks. I always drain the barrels and cover them with a metal lid so that water does not flow into them when it rains or melts.”
Although concrete is durable, water can tear even stronger materials. Therefore, even with concrete barrels, emptying or at least lowering the water level in the barrel will help protect the container. In that case, use any float that will reduce the ice pressure on the walls when it freezes.
