Have you noticed that no matter how often you water your garden, the plants don’t really perk up until a good rain falls? Plants respond so well to rainwater because it is naturally soft water devoid of minerals, chlorine, fluoride and other chemicals. A rain barrel is an easy way to do your supplemental watering with good, clean, free water.
My husband installed a simple 40-gallon rain barrel beneath the downspout of our two car garage. Runoff from only half of the garage roof, or about 250 square feet, runs into the barrel. Imagine my delight when only a quarter inch of rain filled the rain barrel to half full!
There are many possible degrees of complexity to a rainwater catchment system. Costs vary considerably – you can spend anywhere from a few dollars to thousands of dollars. The simplest system is a bucket below a downspout. More complex systems include interconnected barrels and pumps and special filters. Review the various options on the market to decide what’s best for you.
My system is on the simpler side. The rain barrel, which in a former life was the salt container for our old water softener, sits on a platform made of scrap wood that raises the top of the barrel to just below the eave trough. My husband drilled a hole into the side of the barrel near the bottom and inserted a spigot. I can run the water into a bucket or sprinkling can, or since the barrel is raised, hook a hose to the spigot and use the power of gravity to avoid carrying water.
The top of a rain barrel should be covered at all times with either a screen or solid top to keep out leaves, bird droppings, dust, breeding mosquitoes and curious children.
A little rain can fill a barrel quickly so it is important to have an overflow plan. An old hose inserted into a hole drilled near the top of my barrel hangs to the ground where it is dispersed by splashing on a rock.
Make sure to place the barrel on level and stable ground. One gallon of water weighs eight pounds, so when full it will weigh quite a bit and tipping is a risk.
Some roof types are not appropriate for rainwater harvesting. Old tar and gravel or asbestos shingle roofs create too much contamination. Treated cedar shakes are also not recommended for water harvesting. Do not catch rain from gutters that have lead soldering or lead-based paints.
How much rain am I likely to catch this year? One inch of rain results in about 600 gallons collected from a 1,000 square foot area. The average rain fall is 25.2 inches from March through October in Winnebago County. So my 250 square foot half garage roof should produce about 3,780 gallons of water this year!
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