It’s nice to have a supply of rainwater for gardening purposes and, with that in mind, we put a rain barrel to collect water from off the roof of our shop. The usual rain barrel system has a single plastic drum placed under the downspout on the corner of a building. About 30,000 gallons of rainwater falls on the roof of the average home per year. So there is plenty of water to go around. Excess water overflows the barrel and is absorbed into the ground.
We do not want to use valuable stored drinking water for cleaning, washing and hygiene if we lose access to our regular water supply. We decided to expand the amount of rainwater storage by adding two additional water barrels next to our existing one. We used sturdy plastic trashcans we had on hand.
When installing any water catchment system it is necessary to make sure that each barrel is on a sturdy base and is level. As a base we used cinder blocks and 2×4 pressure treated lumber.
We drilled holes into the trash-can lids and installed garden hoses from one barrel to the next. To keep the hose ends from floating we placed a weight on the hose end. Before inserting the hose fully in place we charged each hose with water so that there would be a siphon-effect between the barrels.
When the water is used from one barrel the other barrels drain too. They also fill up the same way through the siphon-effect. As a final touch we placed a screen barrier at each hole so the mosquitos would not breed in the stored water. We treated the water by adding non-scented, not detergent bleach in the amount of 12 ounces per 50 gallon barrel. This prevents algae from growing in the water. We now have 150 gallons of rainwater storage capacity.
Robert Nicholson
November 2014
This month’s article includes:
Thanksgiving Day – An American Tradition a change of economic systems led to this holiday for expressing gratitude http://www.sunoven.com/archives/12222
A Winter “To Do” List http://www.sunoven.com/archives/12232 Don’t let cold weather catch you unprepared.
Use household items to make your own Gel packs for sprains and swollen joints. http://www.sunoven.com/archives/12238
Inviting pests to leave your home this winter, naturally. http://www.sunoven.com/archives/12260
Commit these ground to air emergency codes to memory. You may need them this winter. http://www.sunoven.com/archives/12243
Squash Chips – an alternate way to preserve summer squash without freezing. http://www.sunoven.com/archives/12272
French style Stew http://www.sunoven.com/archives/12032
