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Rain Barrels
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Posted by silybum Sunset 16 (My Page) on Wed, May 4, 05 at 17:00
| I found this on the frugel forum, "i would recommend establishing water barrels and/gray water use. this has saved me a mint!"
can anyone elaborate.................what can you use for a barrel, etc.
will it work for me? in my area it rains only in the winter. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Rain Barrels
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I'm not sure if a rain barrel will help you this year, but you should have plenty of time til the next winter rain to get one set up. It depends on how fancy you want to get with it, but you can buy one premade or build your own.
My barrel is a 55 gal plastic drum from a car wash - it originally held soap. I've also heard that people get them from soda bottling plants, but i haven't looked into that. Of course, you really could use anything that will hold water :)
In the meantime, you can save buckets of water from your household use. "Gray water" would generally refer to water that has been used for washing. Again, how elaborate your system is would be a matter of taste. Some have a way to divert this water directly from drains. I collect water that would just be wasted, for example put a bucket in the shower to catch water while it warms up. i also save water that is running while waiting for it to get cold for a drink or whatever. also, i have a bucket that catches water from the furnace (humidifier?). In the same vein, you could save drips from air conditioners.
If you google rain barrel or gray water, you should get lots of good sites to browse through for ideas. |
Rain Barrel Plans
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| Hope this link helps. Its the one I used and I made two of them and collect the water from both ends of the house. Planted some flowers around it and it looks great and works great. Here is the link...........http://www.naturalrainwater.com/makeit.htm |
RE: Rain Barrels
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Hi Neocon,
Wow, I always thought about making one of these.
Your bottom spigot doesn't leak at all?? Thanks
Duane |
RE: Rain Barrels
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| We have one of those $10 plastic kiddie wading pools for the dog to play in, and every 3 days I scoop the water out for the plants. We're going to add a couple more to catch both gray water and rainfall. They will fit under the downspouts easily and the dog will love it. |
RE: Rain Barrels
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| We have five barrels for rain water. Believe me, most years we still run short. Three barrels are stage 1 composters, keeps racoons out of the household scraps. Three hold tools, and two more I cut down, added rope handles to carry dirt, plants, etc. We are close enough to a fruit packing plant to get them cheap (5.00 - 8.00) |
RE: Rain Barrels
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| I have 2 rain barrels, purchased from our Township office. Last year I never used the hose at all. The barrels supplied ample water for all my containers, seedlings, shrubs etc. The plants definitely prefer rain water to tap water. |
RE: Rain Barrels
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| Our county has a FREE RAIN BARREL program. They have recently added a $21 "handleing charge". Here is the link:
http://www.mmsd.com/rainbarrel/ There is some useful rain barrel FAQ's there. Maybe start something like this in your own community? |
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