Rain Barrels
Watering of our lawns and gardens can account for up to 40% of residential water use. Meanwhile hundreds of gallons of water are draining off of our roofs each time it rains, water that could be used to help our gardens stay green and colorful throughout the hot summer months. A simple solution, rain barrels, has been rediscovered by many homeowners to take advantage of this resource. A 1" rainfall on 1,000 sf roof yields approximately 623 gallons of water. It takes just a ¼" rainfall to fill a barrel. The water stored in your barrel contains no chlorine, lime, or calcium, few salts, and few sediments. This water is ideal for use in gardens, lawns, and washing windows, it is not, however, recommended for human consumption. When choosing rain barrels you may want to consider several things: if you want to store more water, can barrels can be daisy-chained for increased capacity? Do they have screens that prevent insects from entering, and keep out debris? Are the lids secure so no animals or children can get into them?
