First let me say these are large barrels.   They are chest-high on me, and i am 5' 7".  We live in Alabama and a good rain shower fills all three of my 90 Gallon barrels in no time.  The planter stand on top ineeds a little tweaking to keep the dirt from  getting splashed out, but I chose to keep my plants in cotainers and that is working well.  We replaced the plastic splash guard with 1/4 wire mesh and stopped the back-splashing from gutter spout. Flow from spigots is slow, but that is how gravity-fed things work.  We placed a short hose on bottom spigot and have no trouble emptying the barrel.  At the end of season we will empty and clean the barrels and place them on short platforms to increase flowage next year and make access to the bottom spigot easier.   If  I did this again, I would order with downspout diverter kits.