Rain Barrels

My husband and I would like to get a rain barrel and attach a hose to it in order to water our garden. (We get a lot of rain here! Just broke a record for the most days in a row with rain at 35.) The problem is that our house is at the bottom of a small slope, and our garden is higher (but only by a few feet-- just enough that putting the rain barrels higher toward our roof probably wouldn't do the trick). We have a small shed up by the garden, but we could get SO much more rain from our roof. Does anyone have any ideas about our situation? I'd like to take advantage of our rain, so if I can think of a good solution I can't wait to do it! Perhaps there's an obvious answer, but we're young and just getting started at all this. :)

Thanks,
Dana

There is a little hand pump that is sold to pump out liquids stored in 55-gallon drums that you could rig up on your rain barrel and sold the slope problem. One person would have to pump and one water, though. I've seen these pumps sold by companies that sell automotive stuff.

Great! We could probably do that. I was thinking about some kind of pump, but an electric pump would somewhat defeat the purpose trying to be more efficient. I'll have to look that up. Thanks!!

Dana,

This is a Pdf file called: How to Build and Install a Rain Barrel http://www.cwp.org/Community_Watersheds/brochure.pdf

This is where I found it from: Rain Barrel http://www.google.com/custom?domains=davesgarden.com&q=Rain+Barrel&sa=Search&sitesearch=&client=pub-6806286896032167&forid=1&channel=8790959102&ie=ISO-8859-1&oe=ISO-8859-1&safe=active&cof=GALT%3A%23008000%3BGL%3A1%3BDIV%3A%23FFFFFF%3BVLC%3AFF9966%3BAH%3Acenter%3BBGC%3AFFFFFF%3BLBGC%3AFFFFFF%3BALC%3A0000FF%3BLC%3A0000FF%3BT%3A000000%3BGFNT%3A666666%3BGIMP%3A666666%3BLH%3A170%3BLW%3A499%3BL%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fdavesgarden.com%2Fimages%2Fdg_top.gif%3BS%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fdavesgarden.com%2F%3BFORID%3A1%3B&hl=en

HTH

~* Robin

Those are some nice plans. Thanks for posting them. I have a gift certificate for a fancy rain barrel, but I would like to have more than one.

:^)

~* Robin

Yes, thanks a lot for posting the plans! That sounds much cheaper than going out and buying rain barrels, and pretty easy, too.

We made a rain barrel very similar to the one in the plans posted above. We modified the overflow drain pipe so it doesn't dump the overflow into a single spot. By running it into a length of hose into which holes are cut every inch or so, the overflow pipe becomes a soaker hose. We run ours over a garden bed beneath the eves of the shed. This setup saves a lot of hand watering in an area that doesn't receive rain.

You guys are lucky that it rains at all in the summer. We could have 200 barrels and run out in the 1st week. We only get a thunder cloud dump once or twice a week. I miss the Puget Sound.

Soferdig, if you attach barrels to your rainspouts, they fill up fast, usually within one or two good rains.

The barrels might not fill all your watering needs, but they are good to handwater plants near your house.

I was reading on an Australian site about systems that store rainwater to use as bathroom water too, for flushing, etc. Sounds like a good idea.

Cindy

Some people in our area (where everyone has a septic tank system) create a separate system for grey water. That is, toilet water (black water) only goes into the septic tank. Shower, washing, etc. goes into the separate systemm usually a dry well.

I'd like to get this and have the grey water go to the garden area, or at least to some place where it could be recovered for watering. We don't use anything in washing or bathing that would be bad for the garden, so I think it would be a great idea. Probably expensive, though.

I haven't looked at the plans mentioned above yet. However, I made a rain barrell out of a 55 gal. food grade drum I bought for $8. I made a hole near the bottom and inserted a hose bibb (with a nut on the inside) sealed with silicone adhesive. Since we had very little slope, there was not much water pressure, yet enough to water slowly. I cut the downspout off above the barrell and added a bent piece so rain went into the barrell.

My only problem was all the granules off the asphalt roofing shingles washing into the barrell. Next roof will be metal so end of that problem!

darius,

Tie & duck tape some old pantyhose legs to the end of the drain spout to prevent that & leaves going in to it.

~* Robin

Good tip, Robin. Sold that house, though... LOL.

We scored on some free rain barrels last year but the problem is the areas needing the water are really far from the house. Any ideas?

Gwendalou

I've been meaning to get rain barrels forever, and I never seem to get around to it. Maybe this year. Really could have used them last summer, it was so hot and dry.

Missgarney, I looked into greywater last year, and I'm considering trying to do something with it. My dishwasher and washing machine already discharge into a drywell separate from my septic, and I may try to divert it somehow in the summer months to use. I also would like to divert my showers and sinks to the drywell/greywater tank. Not only would I like to conserve/reuse the water, but with a 50-year-old+ septic system, I'd like to take some pressure off of it.

I read a book about greywater, which for the life of me I can't remember the name of, and it was very informative, from simple greywater systems such as a bucket in your sink, to elaborate underground systems. I think it was from somewhere called "Oasis". Try googling "Oasis greywater" and see what you get. Be aware that some localities are not as environmentally up to date and have laws restricting greywater use. Greywater use is an interesting concept, in my opinion.

Gwendalou, I've got the same problem. I envision myself walking back and forth a hundred times between the rain barrel and the gardens with a watering can. I'm tired just thinking about it!

:)
Dee

I catch my gutter pieces with a 12" long misquito net on the base (floor) of the gutter about 2ft from the down spout. It catches everything but water so my down spout irrigators (4" pipe) to my garden bed doesn't get clogged. I just place a bolt to the distal end of the netting to lift it up and secure the proximal end. (upper) with silicone. Of course I have to clean the area as needed and it is usually pine material and compost shingle granules. I have considered using solid 4" and place drip lines to the areas I need irrigated then no barrel is needed. Water is held in the 50' of 4" pipe with a cap on the end and leaches out a regulated drip with 1/4 " plastic with drip controllers. When fall arrives I remove the cap on the end and flush it out with hoseand water. it works nice. You need to seal the down spout to the pipe and I have used liquid nails. No barrell needed.

This message was edited Mar 4, 2006 11:42 AM