Rain Barrels

[Shawn]

I was looking through Better Homes and Garden and saw a add for rain barrels, http://www.rainbarrelsource.com/. I noticed they are basically just 55 gallon drums with spickets. It does not look too hard to make your own  :-\. Does anyone have any these? Does anyone catch their rain water? I should also say it is illegal to collect any rain water in Colorado  :shock:. Shocker? I thought so.

[doak]

The only down side to it is a mosquito factory. You need to have a way to store it so they cannot breed, which they will do in any standing water. I have been giving it some thought and I think any type of circulater to keep the water stirred up should do the trick.

I have an old 14 ft boat and could make a little water fall in it, raise a few bream/sunfish.
Water the garden with fertile water. :roll: :)doak

[Highlandsfreedom]

Well here is Colorado I have a nice 400 gallon "pond" with fish and plants the bees LOVE the frogs bite to sit on and catch a drink.....  A little punp and a hose fell into the pond and oops it reaches to the garden...... :evil: 8-) :-D

[Shawn]

The site I posted to say you had to screen off for mosquitos. They say if you get an inch of rain a 1000 square foot roof will give you 663 gallons of water.  :shock:, dont quote me on the amount but I know it was in the 600s. If caught I guess I would have to say I was rolling the barrel. got tired and that is where it ended up. Darn kids must have attached the hose  :-P

[Highlandsfreedom]

The site I posted to say you had to screen off for mosquitos. They say if you get an inch of rain a 1000 square foot roof will give you 663 gallons of water.  :shock:, dont quote me on the amount but I know it was in the 600s. If caught I guess I would have to say I was rolling the barrel. got tired and that is where it ended up. Darn kids must have attached the hose  :-P

I love it!!!!

[Bee Happy]

illegal to store rainwater?
did coors sponsor that law? or arizona/ new mexico?

[Highlandsfreedom]

illegal to store rainwater?
did coors sponsor that law? or arizona/ new mexico?

Its an old 1800's law that states that ....if we in the city capture rain water that it suffers the farmers down stream...... it has since been proven that that amount of rain water would evaporate before it ever got there but you know Gov. ..................... And I think that the state sells to everybody down to the pacific and the Mississippi river so we would be stealing state revenue??  I know I know...................  We are in the process of changing that..
Here in Denver not only is it illeagle to capture water but the water company takes the sq ft of your roof and driveway and charge you a processing fee for the rain water run off???? :?  And then sell it back to you isn't that a double whammy?  Thats too much fun right there.....

[Natalie]

I have rain barrels, its amazing how fast they will fill even during a light rain.
I got mine through my town's public works dept.
They sponsored a program where you could get the barrels at a discount, the town subsidized them, otherwise some of those rain barrels you can buy are expensive.
They also had the connectors so you could link all the barrels together.
If you can get the barrels for free I guess its easy enough to make your own if you get the hose, spigots and screens etc.
As for the mosquitos, the barrels that I have are sealed tight and screened around the hose opening so there isn't a problem but you can use a larvicide brick in the water that prevents mosquito from becoming mature so they cannot reproduce.
You can also keep goldfish in your barrel, they eat the eggs and the waste water from the fish is good for the plants.

[mgmoore7]

I made 3 rain barrels a few years ago from 55 gallon plastic drums.  The drums just had 2 holes with screw in plugs on the top.  I paid $10 for each from someone I found on craigs list.

Then I added a spicket at the bottom of each.  I used some sealant to help seal.  None have leaked.  Must have the right size hole though, so do some testing with scrap.  The scrap I used for testing was from a hole I cut in the top of one of them to accept a pool filter like the link below.  I got one at home depot for about $10.   I lined this plastic filter with some screen to keep the mosquitos and other small debri out.  The drain spout from the roof is directed into this filter.
http://www.saveonpoolsupplies.com/Pool-Equipment/Pool-Pump-and-Pool-Filter-Accessories/Filter-Savers/

Then I joined 2 of the barrels at the bottom with some flexable PVC pipe so they would fill at the same time.  This gives me 110 gallons of storage.  The 3rd barrel I used as a water/nutrient resevoir for my hydroponics system.  

For what I do.... I use the 110 gallons of water from the 2 barrels primarily to supply water to my other barrel for the hydroponic system.  I use a inexpensive pump to suck out the water from the 2 barrels to the 3rd barrel.  

I have not had a problem with mosquitos because the barrel is fairly protected from them getting in.  I do get some algae growth though.  I guess that a little bleach would solve that but I have not done that yet.

I do get tree frogs in my 3rd barrel though since it had a overflow hole that they can easliy get into near the top.

I would estimate that my total cost for all PVC, filter, spickets, barrels is about $50.  That is quite a value compared to what most sell for.  It is harder to get the barrels today though for so cheap as it seems that having rain barrels is getting more popular.  

Depending on what you use the water for, keep in mind that the rain water PH is quite different when compared to the PH of tap/hose water.  This may or may not impact you but for me it does as I have to have the PH correct for the hydroponic system.

[mgmoore7]

I just looked at the prices of the rain barrels at http://www.rainbarrelsource.com/.   Oh my!!  I guess if looks is really important but you can paint a plastic barrel. 

Keep in mind how much water costs and the cost of the rain barrels.  I believe it is smart and obviously I do it, but don't be fooled into thinking you will recoop the cost of the barrel in a reasonalble amount of time.

In my area, it cost $2.90 cents per 1,000 gallons.  That is just under 13 cents per 55 gallons.  Therefore, it would take almost 800 fillings of the barrel by rain to recoop the cost of a $100 barrel.

My situation is a little different because using rain water saves me quite a bit on acid to adjust the PH for my growing system.  The PH of the rain water is close to what I need it to be and it takes about 1/4th of the acid to make the adjustment as the tap water does.  The rain water is much more sensitive to the acid I use to adjust. 

Additionally, I believe the plants grow better with rain water vs tap water. 

[Bee Happy]

Its an old 1800's law that states that ....if we in the city capture rain water that it suffers the farmers down stream...... it has since been proven that that amount of rain water would evaporate before it ever got there but you know Gov. ....

especially out west. I remember being amazed whenever I went out west I would get out of the shower and I would actually continue getting drier. getting drier in Florida is when you sit directly under the ac vent and stay there.

[mgmoore7]

getting drier in Florida is when you sit directly under the ac vent and stay there.

Yes, and for a long time.  :)  I love FL though.  I will take the heat and humidity any day over the cold.

[Highlandsfreedom]

Its an old 1800's law that states that ....if we in the city capture rain water that it suffers the farmers down stream...... it has since been proven that that amount of rain water would evaporate before it ever got there but you know Gov. ....

especially out west. I remember being amazed whenever I went out west I would get out of the shower and I would actually continue getting drier. getting drier in Florida is when you sit directly under the ac vent and stay there.

I love Flordia trying to get the wife to move well............................... thats another story :-D

[Bee Happy]

you may wish to come to hell Florida in say, July before you do anything rash.
(I love it here too, but it definitely takes some getting used to.)

[Highlandsfreedom]

I lived there when I was younger I would set my watch to 2 o clock with the rain.... it was in orlando and my great grandmother lived in tampa on the canal.... we would take the boat and watch the manatees...... such great memories.......

[Brian D. Bray]

I use rain water from barrels as an additional source of water for the stock when the creek dries up in the summer (it is now dry with  cracking mud).  It is possible to hook up several of these in series using hose and plumbing them together near the top so that the full one overflows into the next one and so on.  A way to control the sketers and algae is to put in some feeder gold fish from the pet store.   When they get too big, it's fish fry time.

[lakeman]

illegal to store rainwater?
did coors sponsor that law? or arizona/ new mexico?

Its an old 1800's law that states that ....if we in the city capture rain water that it suffers the farmers down stream...... it has since been proven that that amount of rain water would evaporate before it ever got there but you know Gov. ..................... And I think that the state sells to everybody down to the pacific and the Mississippi river so we would be stealing state revenue??  I know I know...................  We are in the process of changing that..
Here in Denver not only is it illeagle to capture water but the water company takes the sq ft of your roof and driveway and charge you a processing fee for the rain water run off???? :?  And then sell it back to you isn't that a double whammy?  Thats too much fun right there.....

Yes, we are slaves to the governments federal, state, and local. Of course, I really feel sorry for you younger folks, as I am 76 years old, I know what it is like to have lived in a free country, too bad ya'all will never know what it is like, to be, and live free.

[Bee Happy]

I guess you're only a slave if you choose to obey, but then there are consequences where there weren't before.

[lakeman]

I guess you're only a slave if you choose to obey, but then there are consequences where there weren't before.

Don,t understand ????

[asprince]

I know a gentleman that has two large (1000 -1500 gal each) under ground cisterns. He catches all the rain water from his roof. His lawn sprinkler system pumps from these reservoirs. He always has a beautiful lawn, flowers, and garden.


Steve