rain barrels

[pattys214garden]

does anyone on here use rain barrels - i`ve set up 2 barrels on each end of house and because water is a little more expensive than when we lived in N.Y. I THINK THIS IS GONNA WORK OUT FINE

[Ohio dreamer]

We have a few. We use them to water the garden and do other outside cleaning chores.

[Danaus29]

I've got one but it's not hooked up to the downspout. Yes, kinda dumb, but we fill it with water from the air conditioner.

[hiddensprings]

I have three on my garden shed and use to water the chickens and the garden. We also have several troughs that have downspouts that run into them so we can capture water for our cows and horses.

[Helena]

Yes have a couple myself I use for plants but could use them for animal water if need be in a power outage..but not during our cold winters due to freezing. I decorated them with paint and a screen on top to keep debris from falling in and a couple mosquito bait..that does not harm animals or plants.

[Glacialtill]

We have a bunch and hardly ever have to use town water for the garden. And if it's raining and the barrels are full, I've been known to be out there in the rain, watering the plants from the barrels just to make more room for the fresh rain. Store the old water in the soil.

Screens are a great idea and easy enough to jerry rig from scraps of old screen, but I usually don't bother. If we had more mosquitoes, I would bother.

I also keep them out year round, just for drainage control. We have serious winters here in Western MA, with two foot snowfalls and such, but we also get winter rain and if it's not captured and diverted we can end up with an ice rink for a driveway or a flood in the basement. Just have to keep them draining. I have ended up with a couple 400 pound ice cubes.

[AmericanStand]

Just how much does water cost there?

[Micknleb]

We have some made out of 55 gallon olive barrels we got from the Co-op, about $30 each versus nearly a hundred for the commercially made ones. We use them for the garden and watering animals. They are connected to downspouts on the house and the barn. Love 'em.

[LauraD]

We have two made from 55-gallon drums, which we use to water the garden. It's been really great this year - we've had enough rain that they've only gone dry once, for about a week. Can't imagine the money I'm saving by not using house (public) water! We clean them out in the fall & store them outside, upside down, then set them up again in the spring.

[Belfrybat]

Not exactly rain barrels, but I have a 1550 gal tank on the back of the house, a 550 gallon one on the shed, and two crate-type totes on the front which hold 275 gal. each. I use them for yard water, but the one on the shed could be potable with minimal treatment since that has a metal roof. The first one inch of rain fills the two front totes and puts an additional 500 gallons in the back two -- a bit over 1000 gallons for the first inch of rain and 500 thereafter.

[bryant]

We currently have two 275 gal totes and plan on adding at least 4 more as the buildings go up. We water chickens, garden, goats, dogs, rabbits with the water collected. The overall plan is to only use our city water for people use. We collect from the metal roofs via screen covered gutters, the water passes through a total of 4 screens before it gets to the totes. WE get out totes from a fellow that gets them from his place of employ and sells them for 100 dollars for two. They previously contain food grade syrups and are pretty easy to clean out and I like the 2" valve which makes connecting them together easy.