Long arms.

No matter what anybody tells you about making a rain barrel, long arms and a pair of long-handled pliers are the key.

Andy Sharp / AJC (ENLARGE)

Carrie Judd (in barrel) gets help from Annaleise Fredeman as they try to attach a drain faucet to a barrel. The faucet was going in a hole drilled in the lower portion of the barrel.

"You're going to have to climb into the barrel," a frustrated Annaleise Fredeman told her helper as they tried to fasten a PVC elbow to the threaded faucet shaft inside the barrel near the bottom.

She was among the 25 participants in a free barrel-making class Friday sponsored by the Cobb County Water System.

It costs the agency about $40 for the fittings and the rain barrel, a food-grade 55-gallon drum, and participants take home their barrels.

Most of the work is easy: a hole drilled here, a cut in the top with a jigsaw. But fastening that elbow about 6 inches from the bottom of the barrel takes patience and reach. Long-handled pliers are your best choice.

Fredeman, a WellStar Kennestone Hospital emergency room nurse, said she came to learn ways here to avoid the dire consequences of drought that her homeland of Australia is experiencing.

"They're doing a lot of this at home, and I thought I would give it a try," she said.

The northern portion of Georgia is in its worst drought in 168 years, and counties such as Cobb and others are doing all they can to encourage conservation.

Paula Hensel of east Cobb came because she doesn't want to worry about her plants and shrubs through another arid summer.

"I'm learning more about the value of water," she said, standing proudly in front of her finished barrel. "Now, if I can convince some neighbors to do the same thing. ..."

RELATED LINKS:
• Photos: How to make your own rain barrel
• Photos: See more from the barrel class
• Map: Watering rules by county
• Get the latest advice from Walter Reeves
• Get more ideas for your home
• Latest Cobb news