Keep your garden alive
through the driest
summer on record.
Metro Vancouver's Stage 2 and Stage 3 restrictions apply to treated drinking water only - not to rainwater you collect yourself. A residential rainwater system, built right, is the legal way to keep your food garden, trees, and ornamentals going while your neighbours watch theirs turn brown.
The system is simpler than you'd expect. Every working setup follows the same path.
From a single barrel to a full drought-proof buried cistern — all parts in stock or preorder at BARR Plastics, Abbotsford.
The Weekend
Barrel Setup
- 2× GRAF Classic 510 L Rain Barrel
500214 - 2× Stand bases
502003 - 1× Speedy Water Diverter
503040 - 1× Leaf Eater Advanced
RHAD100
The Pressurized
Top-Tank
- GRAF Top-Tank 1,300 L w/ Sealing Set
323001 - Leaf Eater Advanced
RHAD100 - Rapido Quattro Rain Filter
503071 - First Flush Plus Diverter 4″
WDDP111 - Flojet Quad Diaphragm Pump 12 V
04300504A
The Buried
Platin System
- GRAF Platin Flat Tank 5,000 L
390002 - Minimax-Pro Internal Filter
340093 - Calming Inlet 4″
330140 - Overflow Siphon w/ Rodent Guard
331004 - Grundfos SBA3-45 AW Submersible
97896335 - Floating Suction Set 1″ Micro
330055
How much water can your roof actually capture? Move the sliders.
What BC actually allows — and what crosses into permit territory.
Standalone outdoor systems
Roof catchment, screened gutters, first-flush, a rain barrel or aboveground cistern, and delivery by watering can or hose bib. As long as the system stays disconnected from potable plumbing and is clearly labeled non-potable, you don't need a water-use licence or municipal permit.
Watering during Stage 2 & Stage 3
Metro Vancouver's restriction stages apply only to treated drinking water. Your collected rainwater can be used for hand watering, drip irrigation, soaker hoses, and outdoor washing — even when neighbours can't use municipal water for the same things.
Buried tanks & pumps
Underground tanks and pressurized systems with submersible pumps usually trigger plumbing permits, cross-connection testing, and backflow inspection in Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond, and Coquitlam. Hire a qualified installer who can pull the right permits.
Indoor plumbing connections
Routing rainwater to toilets, washing machines, or any indoor fixture — and especially anything with a potable make-up line — moves the project from "rain barrel" into regulated alternate-water-system territory. Air gap or RP backflow assembly required, plus operating permits.
The cheapest litre of irrigation water in BC this summer isn't from a utility. It's the litre you captured from your own roof in October, stored, and saved for August.— A simple physics observation
Ready to start? Get a personalized
quote in for your property.
Tell us your lot size, roof area, and goal — we'll match you with the right package from BARR Plastics' inventory, confirm freight to your address, and walk you through what (if anything) needs a permit in your municipality.