WHY USE A RAIN BARREL?
A rain barrel will save most home owners about 1,300 gallons of water during the summer months. Multiply that times what you spend per gallon with the local muncipal utility company and that is more than enough to justify the expense in either building a rain barrel system or making a purchase.
Advantages of a rain barrel?
Lawn and garden watering make up nearly 40% of total household water use during the summer. A rain barrel collects water and stores it for when you need it most -- during periods of drought -- to water your garden, wash your car or top off the swimming pool. A rain barrel provides an ample supply of free "soft water" to homeowners, containing no chlorine, lime or calcium making it ideal for gardens, flower pots, and car and window washing.
Why use a rain barrel: Save $$$
• A rain barrel will save most homeowners about 1,300 gallons of water during the peak summer months. Just 1" rain on a 1,000 sq. ft. roof, produces about 600 gallons of water. Saving water not only helps protect the environment, it saves you money and energy (decreased demand for treated tap water).
• Rain barrels reduce water pollution by reducing storm water runoff, which can contain pollutants like sediment, oil, grease, bacteria and nutrients.
• A rain barrel is an easy way for you to have a consistent supply of clean, fresh water for outdoor use, FREE.
• Rain barrels are inexpensive and easy to build and install.
• A rain barrel can be used to save water for plants during dry periods. Rain barrels can also be arranged to slowly release the collected rainfall to areas that can soak up the water, reducing storm water runoff and increasing groundwater recharge.
Operation and Maintenance
Rain barrels should be drained and removed for the winter months to prevent ice damage. The rain barrel can be drained and stored indoors or outdoors. If using a diverter kit with your rain barrel, all that is needed is for the rain barrel to be drained of all water and the diverter kit to be disconnected from the rain barrel. The reason for disconnecting rain barrels in the winter months is due to freezing water inside the rain barrel expands and can cause the rain barrel to rupture and leak when the warm weather returns.
Most rain barrels on the market today come with a mesh filter screen to keep debris and insects out. If your rain barrel does not have this you can use a fine mesh screen to cover any openings in the rain barrel to prevent mosquitoes and to trap debris.
Rain barrels can be installed upon blocks or wooden crate to provide height for gravity flow purposes.
How to use rain barrel water:
As the water collected in the rain barrel is coming off a roof, into gutters and down downspouts, it is not considered to be “drinkable” or potable water. Remember, birds and animals are also on the roof. So, water from the roof can contain bacteria and other disease-causing organisms from bird and other animal waste that might be on the roof. How you use this water in your garden and the type of plants you use it on is an important consideration. Rain barrel water is fine if used to water non- edible plants – like flowers or lawns.
You can use water from a rain barrel in your garden on your vegetables and herbs but only in the same way that other non- potable water is used. Avoid using overhead irrigation. It is best to use this water for drip or trickle irrigation. This prevents contamination of edible above the ground plant parts that are hard to clean, especially leafy greens. However, the vegetable is not safe to eat unless it is thoroughly washed using “drinkable” water first. Rain barrel water should not be used close to harvest time to water the vegetable garden and should NEVER be used to wash fruits or vegetables from the garden or orchard prior to as the water collected from rain barrels comes from areas that could have been in contact with birds and other animals that could carry disease.
Lawn and garden watering make up nearly 40% of total household water use during the summer. A rain barrel collects water and stores it for when you need it most -- during periods of drought -- to water your garden, wash your car or top off the swimming pool. A rain barrel provides an ample supply of free "soft water" to homeowners, containing no chlorine, lime or calcium making it ideal for gardens, flower pots, and car and window washing.
Why use a rain barrel: Save $$$
• A rain barrel will save most homeowners about 1,300 gallons of water during the peak summer months. Just 1" rain on a 1,000 sq. ft. roof, produces about 600 gallons of water. Saving water not only helps protect the environment, it saves you money and energy (decreased demand for treated tap water).
• Rain barrels reduce water pollution by reducing storm water runoff, which can contain pollutants like sediment, oil, grease, bacteria and nutrients.
• A rain barrel is an easy way for you to have a consistent supply of clean, fresh water for outdoor use, FREE.
• Rain barrels are inexpensive and easy to build and install.
• A rain barrel can be used to save water for plants during dry periods. Rain barrels can also be arranged to slowly release the collected rainfall to areas that can soak up the water, reducing storm water runoff and increasing groundwater recharge.
Operation and Maintenance
Rain barrels should be drained and removed for the winter months to prevent ice damage. The rain barrel can be drained and stored indoors or outdoors. If using a diverter kit with your rain barrel, all that is needed is for the rain barrel to be drained of all water and the diverter kit to be disconnected from the rain barrel. The reason for disconnecting rain barrels in the winter months is due to freezing water inside the rain barrel expands and can cause the rain barrel to rupture and leak when the warm weather returns.
Most rain barrels on the market today come with a mesh filter screen to keep debris and insects out. If your rain barrel does not have this you can use a fine mesh screen to cover any openings in the rain barrel to prevent mosquitoes and to trap debris.
Rain barrels can be installed upon blocks or wooden crate to provide height for gravity flow purposes.
How to use rain barrel water:
As the water collected in the rain barrel is coming off a roof, into gutters and down downspouts, it is not considered to be “drinkable” or potable water. Remember, birds and animals are also on the roof. So, water from the roof can contain bacteria and other disease-causing organisms from bird and other animal waste that might be on the roof. How you use this water in your garden and the type of plants you use it on is an important consideration. Rain barrel water is fine if used to water non- edible plants – like flowers or lawns.
You can use water from a rain barrel in your garden on your vegetables and herbs but only in the same way that other non- potable water is used. Avoid using overhead irrigation. It is best to use this water for drip or trickle irrigation. This prevents contamination of edible above the ground plant parts that are hard to clean, especially leafy greens. However, the vegetable is not safe to eat unless it is thoroughly washed using “drinkable” water first. Rain barrel water should not be used close to harvest time to water the vegetable garden and should NEVER be used to wash fruits or vegetables from the garden or orchard prior to as the water collected from rain barrels comes from areas that could have been in contact with birds and other animals that could carry disease.