Best Downspout Diverter for Rain Barrel Owners & Those Seeking a DIY Rain Barrel Kit

A downspout diverter regulates the volume of rainwater that flows from a downspout to a rain barrel. During a heavy rainfall event, a rain barrel can fill to capacity in as little as 15 minutes before it begins to overflow. Most rain barrels have insufficient overflow capacity to keep up to the volume of rainwater flowing directly from a downspout during a medium to heavy rainfall. Once the rain barrel is full, water continues to be directed into the rain barrel, faster than the overflow hose can drain it away, so rainwater begins to overflow out of the top and down the sides. This saturates the ground around your home’s foundation and can lead to rainwater leaking into the basement. A downspout diverter, regulates the volume of water that enters the rain barrel so that once the barrel is full, it allows excess water to pass through the diverter, into the lower downspout and away from your home. A downspout diverter prevents a rain barrel from overflowing beside your home and minimizes the potential for basement flooding.

It is a pretty bold claim to call a product, the very BEST of its kind, however the Best Downspout Diverter is totally engineered to support this claim. Before making an investment in a downspout diverter, please review the following features and highlights to determine which is the Best Downspout Diverter for your home.

The Best Downspout Diverter is configurable and expandable to support up to eight outlets, to fill rain barrels, swimming pools, hot tubs, rain tanks, cisterns, ponds, gardens and lawns. The Best Downspout Diverter supports four outlets at a lower level and four outlets at an upper level. Gravity directs rainwater to flow out of lower level outlets first. When more rainwater enters the diverter than the lower level outlets can divert, it rises up inside until it reaches the upper level outlets. This system allows a rain barrel to be filled through a lower outlet first, before water rises and flows to a swimming pool connected to an upper outlet. If all outlets are at capacity, water rises up further and flows out through the lower downspout.

Some diverters only fit a single size of downspout. The Best Downspout Diverter fits 2x3, 3x3, 3x4 inch, round and other sizes and styles as it includes top and bottom components that can be adapted to a variety of downspout configurations. The Best Downspout Diverter is a one-size-fits-all solution.

Some diverters only have a single outlet and hose. The Best Downspout Diverter standard kit includes two outlets and two hoses, so it is ready to connect to two rain barrels and It is expandable to eight outlets and hoses, with the purchase of additional outlet kits. The Best Downspout Diverter is designed with additional diverting capacity because a rain barrel can fill to capacity in as little as 15 minutes, so why not divert the excess water to other rain barrels, rain tanks, swimming pools, hot tubs, cisterns, ponds, lawns and gardens.

Some diverters only use a single, smaller hose that is ¾ inch to 1 inch diameter. The Best Downspout Diverter uses multiple 1.5 inch diameter hoses and supports the use of 3/4 inch garden hoses and can divert rainwater through a maximum of eight outlets. The Best Downspout Diverter uses multiple large hoses to divert more rainwater, faster, and to multiple storage destinations.

Some diverter designs restrict waterflow by using a narrowing, hourglass-shaped, rainwater pathway, making it more likely to become clogged with leaves and debris. A single leaf can block these diverters and prevent them from diverting rainwater. The Best Downspout Diverter increases the size of the downspout pathway to slow rainwater down and to give it more time to exit an outlet, to a rainwater storage destination.

Some diverters use bottom facing outlets that are easily blocked when a single leaf enters inside. The Best Downspout Diverter uses side and front facing outlets that are raised up from the bottom, which permits leaves and debris to settle to the bottom without interfering with the flow of rainwater.

Some diverters are easily blocked as they permit debris to enter the outlets and hoses. The Best Downspout Diverter includes outlet filter screens to prevent leaves and debris from passing into the outlets, hoses and rainwater storage destinations.

Some diverters redirect almost all of the dirt that washes off of a roof into the rain barrel or they become clogged with the dirt and no longer divert water. This is especially true for the rubber boot style of diverter that inserts into a hole drilled into the downspout. Dirt washes down the downspout walls, into the rubber boot, where it is directed to the rain barrel or the dirt settles and dries inside the boot and reduces capacity for rainwater to flow to the rain barrel. The Best Downspout Diverter uses a self-flushing water-path design that allows excess water to wash dirt out and down the lower downspout.

Some diverter designs permit rainwater to pass straight through and out the lower downspout even when there was capacity to divert the rainwater to a storage destination. The Best Downspout Diverter uses a waterslide to direct every drop into a well, from where it can flow through an outlet to a rainwater storage destination. As long as all outlets are not at maximum flow capacity, additional rainwater will continue to be diverted.

Some diverters have manually adjustable levers to alter the direction of rainwater flow, but these require homeowners to go outside in the rain to change the direction of flow. The Best Downspout Diverter uses gravity and the internal water level to automatically determine where the rainwater will flow. There are no moving parts involved.

Some diverters must be uninstalled for the winter, where temperatures fall below freezing, otherwise they may be damaged by expanding ice. They must also be uninstalled to remove leaves and debris and it is impossible to know if there are any clogs until they are uninstalled. The Best Downspout Diverter can remain installed all year long. For winter, a foam wall is inserted and the waterslide is reversed in direction to form an interior wall that prevents rainwater from entering the well and creates a direct path for rainwater to pass between the upper and lower downspouts. For cleaning purposes, the lid is removable to gain total access to the interior.

The Best Downspout Diverter is made of white, HDPE, food grade plastic, similar to a milk jug and it has a matte finish. It can be spray painted with any durable paint for plastics.

The Best Downspout Diverter includes two UV sleeves to extend the lifespan of the diverter hoses by protecting them from the sun.