Last year I purchased two 30 gallon blue water barrels so as to have a supply of fresh water if the city water became disrupted or contaminated. I purchased two 30 gallon barrels rather than a single 55 gallon barrel because in the past I have found 55 gallon barrals to be to hard to easily move around. So far the two barrels have worked well for me, though I have never actually "needed" them. Two barrels also gives me the potential to store them in different locations (garage and storage shed for instance) making it more likely I could get to at least one if something catastrophic happened. Adding bleach takes care of keeping the water safe. I also "try" to rotate the water every 6 months, but don't always succeed.

In addition to the barrels, I puchased a small self-priming siphon intended to fit into the standard opening on the barrels. However, I found that the pump did not actually fit the opening in the barrel. The opening on the barrel was bigger then the threads on the pump. The pump still works, but is less stable and there is a bigger risk of contamination. I brought this up in case somebody else is going to buy both a pump for use with water barrels. Maybe you can be more careful about finding a combo that fits together correctly. I haven't yet investigated if I can find an adapter at the local hardware store.

I also ended up purchasing a special tool for screwing/unscrewing the hexagonal plug that fits in the bung holes of the barrels. While not a requirement, it sure works well and is much easier for me to use then a crescent or pipe wrench.

Lastly, I am also interested in having some method of collecting rainwater from my homes gutter system. I'm not sure of the best way to do this yet. My downspouts actually go directly into underground drains, rather then ending in a curve where where the water falls on a splashblock. Like most homes, my downspouts are also attached to the house. This makes it virtually impossible to get rainwater into a barrel that is 3ft tall without modifications to the downspouts. I'm thinking I would need to cut my downspout off about 4ft above the ground and then add some sort of hose or spout that could direct the water into my barrel. I guess I would also want some method of directing the water into the existing drains when I am not using the barrel. I also picture some sort of course and fine filters to remove as much solid matter as possible. Up here in the Northwest my gutters fill up with 1 inch long pine needles way faster then I care to clean them out. Every rain storm or wind storm results in a cascade of these pine needles onto my roof where they are washed into my gutters and some percentage then make it down the downspout. Hence the desire for a filter to screen out as much as possible.

Lots more research needed on my part I see.