Bring it on April Showers

We finally implemented our rainwater capture system.

We put the barrel next to our back door. The back landing is about a foot and a half off the ground. Our plan is to build a small wooden platform about that height to permanently set the rain barrel on. That way the water coming out of the spigot –the small red thing you can see down low in the honeysuckle (the long red hose from the top is the overflow)– will come out faster because it will both have the water pressure pushing down on it and also be gravity fed.

We opted to have our drain put right in the center of our rain barrel lid, hoping that –when the barrel is on a level surface–the water will pool in the middle and go into the drain.  When the barrel is lifted the flexible downspout we have should basically sit right over the drain.  It has a screened cover and pops out so we can unclog it when needed.

I’ve been very curious about getting a rain barrel. Our water bill is generally about $30 a month or a dollar a day. In the summer months our bill doubles to about $60 a month. Our single rain barrel with all the fittings was a $25 investment. We set it up under the downspout on the back side of the house which has the largest rain collection surface (total roof area).  I’m anxious to see how our water bills compare this summer to previous years.

We plan to use the water for irrigating our plants and garden.  Some people don’t recommend using the water for a vegetable garden because of things that might runoff from the roof into your water.  Well, considering things like how acidic rain water can be these days anyhow, and that the fact that the gutter runoff waters our yard anyway, we’re going to accept the small amount of risk that may or may not be involved.

We got the barrel set up just in time, We’ve been having showers and thunderstorms all week and it’s already filling up with water.