Our new house has rain gutters with downspouts at five locations. One of the last things the builders were required to do by the Town before the development could be considered "done" was to come bury the ends of the downspouts. I wasn't home then, and I don't know what the "rules" were, but I assume it had to do with minimizing direct runoff. So I'm not sure whether this is something that, now, as the homeowner, it's OK to mess with or not. (Zoning is complicated! Resale problems should be avoided.)

That said, if I find out it's OK, I'd love to have at least 2 rain barrels on the back of the house. So thanks for the links!

@SHERRYBINNH, tying a downspout to the storm sewer WAS typical for many years but many municipalities are reconsidering the practice because it is more water THEY need to deal with and it isn't green. Even having your downspout spill into your yard is better than what your town has required you to do.

Now, some creative individual here needs to come up with an attractive version of the rain barrel.

@Duane Hill: word. I'm trying so hard to clean up the exterior of my fixer-upper, why would I want to ruin it with this (even though I really want one)?

If you put some thought into it you could just build a little enclosure out of nice fencing or something - people do it with A/C units. Drill a hole for your hose, make sure to add an entry door for maintanance, and you're good to go.

I would love to do this, but in Southern California...It really doesn't rain in the summer at all. The winter/spring time a bit more...and that would work, but other than using the hose in summer Im not sure how to make it work full time?

If you do a Google Image search on "rain barrel", you will find a few more attractive ones. (They are mainly utilitarian, after all.) I liked the "Madison" which looks like a tall contemporary terra cotta pot. There is one that has a shallow planter full of petunias on top. An amusing one looks like a big rock!

I don't see any value in getting a food grade barrel, though. The water collected flows from (in my case) the asphalt roofing shingles. Nothing drinkable in that! My garden won't care, so "food grade" would not be a consideration.

@Jennafura, arid climates need rain barrels more than non-arid because water is more of a commodity to you. If you think of water as a finite resource with a dollar value wouldn't you want to capture every drop?

If you live in DC, you can use the RiverSmart program to either get subsidized rain barrels at $30 each or rebates for approved barrels you buy and install yourself. There is a waiting period for the subsidized barrels, and the only choice you have with them is the color (black or green), but the wait is not too long all things considered and it is a great price for a big barrel.

http://ddoe.dc.gov/service/riversmart-homes-rain-barrels

I've been using rain barrels for a few years now. It all seemed so sweet and simple when I was planning it. Reality check: things go wrong. I have spent the last few years tweaking my system. I would definitely recommend a diverter system that will channel water back into the downspout when the container is full. My rain barrels can fill in 20-30 minutes in a heavy downpour. Then I have to run outside in the rain and switch my flexible downspout to channel into the regular downspout, or have it flood the areas around the barrels. This is not fun. I didn't buy diverters because they cost some serious money, but trust me, if you have the money, it's worth it. Daisy chaining is another alternative, but somehow my adapted olive barrels won't daisy chain. (I bought them with the spouts already installed). I think the angle of the spouts on the shoulders of the barrels is pointing up, and the water doesn't flow out of them.The other problem I have is the plastic has cracked around the spouts and they leak. A leaky rain barrel is as useful as a leaky boat. The spout is only marginally useful for filling a watering can because it is so small. It's much faster to dip the watering can in the top. The spout would work with a hose, as long as the barrel is higher than the garden. My garden is higher than the ground around my house. Water does not run uphill. Rube Goldberg would be amused by my work around for that. As I said, endless tinkering and frustration. When pricing water harvesting systems, include the cost of multiple barrels (you use the water pretty quickly during dry spells), diverters, hoses, and some mosquito dunks. By the way, I broke my dunks into chunks and sewed them into used nylon tea bags. If you do this (and it does work nicely), attach something bright to them (fishing bobs would work) because I've lost some when when scooping water out with a bucket, or upending the barrels to get the last drops out during a drought. I find them. eventually, strewn about the garden. It helps to have something bright to catch your eye. If you don't like the color of your barrel, consider painting it. As for food grade barrels, you can't drink the water, but you definitely want to avoid a recycled barrel that was used to transport chemicals of some kind that might leach into the water from the plastic. One last comment, I save extra water in 5 gallon plastic buckets I happen to have. Sometimes it seems like a ridiculous amount of water, but right now my reserve is gone due to a prolonged dry spell. You never know.

I have the Algreen barrels that look like terra cotta and have a planter in the top. They really do look good in person.

http://www.amazon.com/Algreen-81002-50-Gallon-Collection-Storage/dp/B0013CJLI6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1342819412&sr=8-2&keywords=algreen+rain+barrel

We have a great blog post on making a solar powered water pump for your water barrels. We have a garden that is uphill from our water barrels and about 100 feet from them as well, so getting the water using gravity was not working and carrying buckets back and forth was extremely tiring. We made this water pump using a solar panel, battery, and other items so that we didn't have to carry buckets anymore. It's been powerful enough to go through over 100 feet of hose and spray powerfully at the other end.
http://sistersplayinghouse.blogspot.com/2012/07/solar-powered-water-pump.html