Anyone use a rain barrel?

17 years ago

I am interested in perhaps installing a rain barrel to help with water in the garden. I have an irrigation system, but my town is having a so-called "temporary" restriction beginning May 1st. The promise is that it won't last long while they finish up work to the water treatment facility in town, but I am skeptical...

Any advice on rain barrels, where to get them, and do they need to be treated for mosquito growth etc. would be most appreciated!

Carolyn

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Comments (7)

misslucinda
17 years ago
Carolyn---
Don't have a clue about rain barrels however if you have standing water, you WILL have a mosquitoe problem. am sure there is a solution like putting in a few tablespoons of clorox or something, but this is a specific search for you.

Good luck!
runktrun
17 years ago
heartwisteria,
We have a forum member rain barrel expert who will probably offer you advise on placing barrels on level ground. I have a buddy living outside of New England and his state Agricultural Extension has a rain barrel program where they offer advise and dramatically discounted barrels. You might do a Google search for what ever New England state you hale from. kt
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Heres is a warning about grey water. DO NOT STORE. The soap and other organics (food stuff from the kitchen sink)will very quickly spoil if stored. It is much better to run grey water straight out to plants in the garden. Do this underground if you can. The bugs will take care of the organics and the plants will get a good watering. You can set up a system to diverate the grey water to various plants by running the house pipe to a distribution point. This is all underground. The distribution point is simply a spot where the grey water can collect and can be as simple as an overturned large plastic barrel. From this point you run a few pipes leading to shallow ditchs leading to plants. The shallow ditches are filled in with sand or small stones and covered over with mulch. All this has to be at an incline directed towards the plants to be watered. Sounds like a long of work but it really is simple. Oh and use the smallest pipe you can. This creates more flow (pressure is the wrong word) but think of it this way; a smaller pipe will have more water filling it than a larger pipe would for the same volume of water. The more the pipe is filled up with water the easier it is to push along any particles that could clog up the pipe. The other option is to run the grey water to a small (or large) bog area/pond. There you can enjoy bog plants and they will take care of the organics. BUT DO NOT STORE GREY WATER! Use it as you make it. Now run off from the roof is another matter all together. You can safely store this water. You might want to invest in a diverter on your gutter downspout that is "open" during the first few gallons of rain coming down the drain. This allows any leaves and trash to be cleaned out of the drain (goes outside). When the diverter is "off" clean water fills your storage containers. This water came be stored for a fair amount of time. Do remember any water stored over a long period of time will spoil. Hope this helps :) Mike
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The current (March 2010) issue of The Family Handyman magazine has a nice piece on making a water storage system from trash cans and common PVC fitings. Good stuff that you may be able to adapt. Look for it on the newsstands or at the library. Craigslist is a great resource but sometimes you need to be patient to find just what you are looking for. The holy grail for rain barrels are known as pickle or olive barrels. The entire top screws off so there basicly like 55 gallon mason jars. Being able to remove the top makes plumbing them up very easy. As far as using metal, many drums are epoxy lined and will resist rusting very well.
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i just have one now and 3 more waiting to be installed -- i love mine! we are in durham and there is somebody at the whole foods here who does installations and such... but i think we are going to install the rest with stuff bought at the local hardware store. one of my water bills last summer was around $150, which is way too high for one month!! and it freaked me out a bit because i don't think i should be using that much water -- why when i could be conserving? so for me, two rain barrels pay for themselves in a month and everything after that is economic gravy PLUS i get the satisfaction of watering from a barrel that doesn't impact my drinking water supply. (seriously, runoff from my roof is better used by saving for my garden than by running along asphalt) having said that... the older i get and the more i learn, the more conservation-minded i become. if i can get around to it, then my few little vermicomposting worms will eventually become enough to take much of my vegan waste and "recycle" for me. :)
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fgirl21
17 years ago
Hi there

I use rainbarrels. My town has PERMANENT water restrictions in place year round that get progressively more prohibitive as the season goes on. We can never EVER use a sprinkler at all!

So yes, I have not one, but 3 rainbarrels - connected.
I bought the first one from my town's health department (maybe $30 or so). It's made from a recycled olive barrel and has a spigot. The opening for water is small and screened. Have never had a mosquito problem.

I picked up the other two from Freecycle. The entire tops are opened but again, screened. They are more at risk for mosquitos getting in (a hole here and there) so I keep mosquito dunks on hand.

What else can I tell you? Oh - two weekends ago in anticipation of "THE STORM" - I put out one rainbarrel (I store them for the winter). By monday, it was full - all 55 gallons!
debl
17 years ago
I've used them for years to water a small greenhouse I have; 3 50 gallons and a 30 gallon. They're from various places; my dentist, previous job, car wash. Last year I put them up on blocks and put spigots near the bottom and that's enough to run the water out back, even in my very flat yard. I try to empty them within a week of them filling up, so mosquitoes haven't been much of a problem. If I do get some, I just feed the larvae to my goldfish for a treat.
Deb
wildbill
17 years ago
I've also used them for years. I got three 33 gallon and two 55 gallon barrels free at a carwash. I built stands out of lumber to raise them up about 3 feet off the ground which helps with the water pressure.

I used to use 1/2 inch diameter aquarium hose to siphon the water out from the top of the barrel and fill gallon jugs - kind of a pain. Now I have nozzles on the barrels to attach garden hoses to. You can buy hose nozzle attachments for about 6 bucks. I use a 1 inch diameter drill bit to put a hole in the side near the bottom of the barrel where the nozzle will attach. I then wrap some teflon tape a few times around the thread that will go into the barrel, then screw the nozzle in and it fits nice and tight. After the nozzle is in place, I apply a bead of clear rubber silicone seal where the fitting meets the barrel.

If you do a search for "downsput diverters" you'll find different devices to get the water conveniently from the gutter downspout into the barrels. Some you flip manually, others are automatic.

I secured window screen around the openings in the top of the barrels to keep mosquitos and other debris out. Some folks throw a "mosquito dunk" in the barrel which lasts about a month.

Finally, make sure to drain the barrel(s) when winter approaches.

I hope this helps!!
mayalena
17 years ago
o, I have LOTS of experience with rain barrels -- but mostly it's limited to watching them roll down my driveway and break off their spigots because I can't seem to get mine on level ground. Also, those nice little diverters only work if your barrel is directly in front of the downspout -- not off to the side, like mine. And, of course, if they are not elevated, you can't put a watering can under the spigot. And the top is too narrow for a watering can to fit in, so you must dip a bucket instead, if you don't elevate. Last bit of advice: don't cut off copper downspouts.... I bot mine from Great American Rain Barrel Co in MA, but I don't think theirs are any more remarkable than anyone else's.
Good luck! Here's to good intentions!!
ML -- resident rainbarrel expert and flowtron assembly advisor....
ElaineW
17 years ago
I have 2 that I've been using for 3 years now. I bought them from someone who makes and sells them. They have screened covers to prevent the misqito problem. I have a super shallow well so I can't run the hoses all the time. The barrels fill up fairly quickly when it rains. It doesn't take much. I have them directly under two downspouts. I'd love to have more of them.
Here is the link for the site. http://www.thebarrelbarron.com

Anyone use a rain barrel?

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misslucinda

runktrun

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