Does anyone have information on recycling rainwater with a rain barrel?

Question

I'm very interested in recycling rainwater to water my landscaping this summer. I've researched how to do it and think I could really hook up a good system. I would love any ideas or thoughts anyone has but mostly I need to find a reasonably priced or donated rain barrel. They can be very pricey and it kind of defeats my whole purpose of doing this, which is to save money and reuse rainwater inexpensively. I live in Eastern Pennsylvania.

Answer 1

We collect rainwater to water our plants in the spring and summer.  I don't know how "fancy" a system you're wanting, but ours is very simple--we got two plastic 55-gallon drums (I think we paid around $20 each) and my  husband got a valve from a home improvement store for one of them.  The one with the valve is up on 4x4 blocks so I can get the watering can underneath the spigot to fill the can.  Since we also have a swimming pool, I put the big buckets our chlorine tablets came in (when they're empty--I clean them out and let them dry) to collect more, and I use a section of hose (I've got both a garden hose segment about 6' long and a 3/4 inch clear tube from an aquarium vaccuum that I use) to siphon water from the 55-gallon drums to the chlorine buckets so I can collect as much as possible.  Our water rates are REALLY high, and I'm rabid about saving as much money on water as we possibly can!!

FOR ANYONE WORRIED ABOUT MOSQUITOS, HERE IS A RELATIVELY CHEAP AND ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY FIX!!!  Go to your local pet store and buy either "feeder" goldfish or "red rosies".  Both are cheap (7-12 cents each) fish that are usually used to feed bigger fish.  Put them in your rain barrels--maximum of one for each gallon of water--and they'll eat the mosquito larvae.  I also think (and this is just my opinion) the fish waste adds nutrients to the water for the plants.  (Aren't organic gardeners always talking about using "fish emulsion"?  Also, about twice each summer, I run my siphon hose to the bottom of the barrels to siphon out the "sludge" on the bottom to put in my compost bin.)  I do feed them a little early in the season, or if we've been dry with very few mosquitos around.  And since they don't need heated water like tropical fish, it's not a big deal to put them in the rain barrels.  Usually they'll even survive the winters--just don't try to break them out of the ice if it freezes!  (There's a story there, but I will NEVER tell it!)

Another place you might check into getting some barrels--although they'll be smaller, like 25-30 gallon--is at some of the automated car washes.  I know they use barrels of the car washing solutions, but you'll want to clean them out really well before you use them.  I got some to "store" overflow water, and they've got two s***w in "plugs" in the top.  I can seal them up to store the rainwater from times we have a lot of rain to use when we're really dry.  I just get the kids and their friends to help me "bucket brigade" the water to the big rain barrel with the spigot.  (I use the hose to siphon it out.)

I hope that helps!

Answer 2

i live in an apartment now but last summer i had a small garden along the front of my house.  with the little rain we got i had to water everyday.  i had 2 approx 25 gal barrels placed under gutter down spouts.  10 minutes of a soft rain and i could water my plants for 2 days.  i had nothing fancy (had no money to make it fancy lol)  just the barrels and a large pitcher to dip the water out with (i used a large laundry soap container, if poke holes in the lid and at several places at the top of the bottle it will sprinkle the water out like a watering can).   had no bugs either cuz i made sure that the water was drained at least every 2 days.  oh if u are gonna do it this way make sure to tell any kids around that they could fall in and die if they go near it!  worked for me but there were only 2 kids in my neighborhood and i didnt work away from home so i could keep an eye on it!

Answer 3

Hi!

Our Condo association recycles our rainwater for landscaping. We got our barrels at a reasonable price at the Boston Building Co-op. Here is there website: www.bbmc.com

Good Luck.

-m

Answer 4

I bought a $5 plastic 55 gallon trash can, with lid, at K-Mart. This became my rain barrel.

I loosened the screws that hold my rain downspout so that I can move it away from the house.

I cut a hole in the trash can lid so that I could slip it, from the bottom up, on to my downspout.

I was also able to position the "rain barrel" under the downspout and then upright so that the downspout empties into my barrel. Then I lowered the cover back over the barrel to keep out animals, and screwed the downspout back against the house.

I used the collected rainwater to water potted plants. I used an empty milk container to transport the water. I can lift the lid, dip the continer in and under the water to fill it, and then lower the lid again.

Because I live in the northeast, where water can freeze in the barrel, I remove it during the winter. It takes all of 5 minutes to either remove it in winter or place it back in summer. The lid helps keep animals and mosquitoes out during the summer, when it's almost always full of rainwater.

Thanks for caring about the environment and wishing to make use of our natural resources.

Answer 5

I bought whiskey barrels at a local big store (Wal-Mart or Home Depot), then drilled it out.  It was very simple and cost less than thirty dollars each, including a brass spigot.  Definitely worth it.

Answer 6

Nothing in life is free!

If you want to save rainwater, you have to buy, or make a container to keep it in.

All the rainwater from the roof of my house is collected through the guttering system and passed through a filter into an underground storage tank.

Some of it is pumped into the house for flushing toilets. The rest I use to water the garden.

It has saved me a fortune in water bills over the years and it is very environmentally friendly!

Answer 7

checkout craigslist philly.  Check under for sale>materials.  There is a few people in there that have a ton of barrels that they are selling cheap.  You can also look under for sale>free.

Answer 8

it depends upon how much you need and what your using the rain for. we have a barrel and my husband uses it to water our garden. my suggestion is to get a container only large enough to meet your needs. that way, it is easier to manage. i also use the rain-water to wash my hair. my husband also uses it for his hair, even though he has only one. the most important thing to remember is to get a tight-fitting lid so as to not attract mosquito's. this way, you have to remember to go out and remove the lid when it rains and to not forget where you put the umbrella. if you visit yard-sales, keep an open eye for something to use, oh, and don't forget to look for an umbrella, just in case you can't find yours, and don't put it in the same place with the one you already have.

Answer 9

There are almost always postings on craigslist.org (Philadelphia area) from someone selling drums for $10. Look under "Farm and Garden". You would probably have to install your own hose bib, though. Your local hardware store can help.

Answer 10

Yes.  You run rainwater into a barrel, and then use it for other things later.

Answer 11

All of my homes water comes 100% from rain catchment (we live completely off the grid). It's absolutely safe, and actually better then some bottled water and most city tap water.

We storage it in 2000 gallon containers we purchased from Wiley (I think that's the right spelling), but before we did that we got 55gal containers for free from coca cola and Walmart (make sure they're "food grade" or you'll be doing a lot  of cleaning). freecycle, craigslist, habitat for humanity, a local ranch and feed store, etc.

Before we decided to catch and drink our rain water I sent in samples of it to UT for testing, the results came back 99 ppm (500 being "drinkable" by the dept of food and drug) 0 toxins, 0 chemicals, 0 pollutants. Since then i purchased a handy little pocket water tester and have kept a close eye on it. I also take it with me on travels and check the water I'm drinking in other cities. Some of the better cities tap water are SLC at 250ppm, Detroit (surprisingly) 280. I don't want to say what some of the lesser ones were. Aquafina bottle water was 440.

Anyway, unless your living in Las Angeles or other highly industrial area your roof should be completely clean and a perfect surface for catching water. Any dust that builds on our roof simply settles to the bottom (the house inlet is about a foot off the bottom) of the tank and doesn't affect the taste or health of the water what so ever (we all ate plenty of dirt as a kid). We do ad a table spoon of bleach to the tanks per every 500 gallons of water, not for the caught rain water (as it is clean to drink immediately),but because we storage it for long durations of time in tanks. Without the bleach (silver works just as good) algae tends to grow (which still isn't bad for you, just taste weird).

We do not filter our water as it is cleaner then most "filtered" bottled water.

If you'd like more info I wrote a self help DIY guide that's available at http://www.agua-luna.com/offgrid_guide.h...

Hope this helped,

Dan Martin

Retired Boeing Engineer now living 100% Off-the-Grid with my family, using Alternative Energy & loving every minute.

for more info visit www.agua-luna.com