Shamrock1121
06-11-2008, 04:42 AM
We have approx. 1,000-gallons of water we collect from downspouts around our house, and will probably add more next spring - as well as reducing the grass in our front yard by about 25%.
All of the assorted containers were purchased from farm supply stores - 50-gallon barrels (they already have a brass spigot), 165-gallon tall barrels (we put plastic spigots in the bung holes), and one 210-gallon container (also put a spigot in the bung hole) and painted this one to look like a giant lady bug (it's an eliptical-rounded, low-profile shape). The lady bug waters our 10-foot strip of grass in the easement in the back yard.
Just don't get anything that's too large for you to handle to clean them out. A pressure washer is your friend when cleaning these out. We use soda and water to clean them a couple times during use, and at the end of the fall. We empty ours, disconnect them from the diverters, and leave them in place during the winter.
Lesson learned last year when we first placed the containers, white poly barrels grow algae. We took care of that last year by putting small barley bail "pillows" (they are used in horse tanks around here) in each container, but have now painted these containers. We purchased $pecial primer and paint (to match our house color) at Sherwin Williams that will stick to the poly surface. We spray-painted the giant lady bug with paint from Lowe's that works on plastic. So have fun with them.
If you use an open barrel method, you'll lose a lot of water from evaporation. Ours are all closed containers and are fed from a Downspout Diverter.
http://www.gardeners.com/Downspout%20Diverter/33-991,default,pd.html
Assembly instructions: http://www.gardeners.com/PB%20PDF%2033-991%20Downspout%20Diverter/5486,default,pg.html
Several methods of rain-barrel how-to, including the method we use with the diverter:
http://www.gardeners.com/Rain%20Barrel%20How-To/5497,default,pg.html
It takes about 1/4-inch of rain to fill a 50-gallon barrel from our roof. All our 50-gallon barrels are linked 2 to a downspout. When the first barrel fills, then it spills into the second. You can link as many containers together as needed, especially if you have a long run of gutter to feed them all.
100-gallons is about right for my small veggie/herb garden. I think you are supposed to figure 1 gallon of water per 1 square foot per week.
I also have a drip irrigation system set up in the garden and along some of the landscape. I have a solar pump that sits in water containers and feeds the irrigation tubes. I fill the water containers with a hose from a barrel.
http://www.gardeners.com/Solar%20Irrigation%20Kit/Watering_DroughtProofing,36-517,default,cp.html
We water our postage-size lawn by hooking a soaker hose to the large 165-gallon containers (we have 2 piggy-backed together).
Another thing to remember. The higher off the ground you place your barrels, the more flow you'll get (gravety feed). All of our containers are on a fiberglass (?) pad - like the ones they set air conditioner units on - to keep them from sinking and shifting into the dirt. Then at least one coarse of concrete blocks on top the pads. You need them at least that high to get your bucket/watering can under the spigot. We also have all our containers strapped to the house to keep them from accidently getting toppled over.
Even though we spent a lot of money on ours, they nearly paid for themselves the first year in water savings. Hardly a week goes by that someone doesn't stop and ask about our water barrels. I've even made a hand-out for the curious. We've been under water-use restrictions that will probably only get worse.
-Karen
All of the assorted containers were purchased from farm supply stores - 50-gallon barrels (they already have a brass spigot), 165-gallon tall barrels (we put plastic spigots in the bung holes), and one 210-gallon container (also put a spigot in the bung hole) and painted this one to look like a giant lady bug (it's an eliptical-rounded, low-profile shape). The lady bug waters our 10-foot strip of grass in the easement in the back yard.
Just don't get anything that's too large for you to handle to clean them out. A pressure washer is your friend when cleaning these out. We use soda and water to clean them a couple times during use, and at the end of the fall. We empty ours, disconnect them from the diverters, and leave them in place during the winter.
Lesson learned last year when we first placed the containers, white poly barrels grow algae. We took care of that last year by putting small barley bail "pillows" (they are used in horse tanks around here) in each container, but have now painted these containers. We purchased $pecial primer and paint (to match our house color) at Sherwin Williams that will stick to the poly surface. We spray-painted the giant lady bug with paint from Lowe's that works on plastic. So have fun with them.
If you use an open barrel method, you'll lose a lot of water from evaporation. Ours are all closed containers and are fed from a Downspout Diverter.
http://www.gardeners.com/Downspout%20Diverter/33-991,default,pd.html
Assembly instructions: http://www.gardeners.com/PB%20PDF%2033-991%20Downspout%20Diverter/5486,default,pg.html
Several methods of rain-barrel how-to, including the method we use with the diverter:
http://www.gardeners.com/Rain%20Barrel%20How-To/5497,default,pg.html
It takes about 1/4-inch of rain to fill a 50-gallon barrel from our roof. All our 50-gallon barrels are linked 2 to a downspout. When the first barrel fills, then it spills into the second. You can link as many containers together as needed, especially if you have a long run of gutter to feed them all.
100-gallons is about right for my small veggie/herb garden. I think you are supposed to figure 1 gallon of water per 1 square foot per week.
I also have a drip irrigation system set up in the garden and along some of the landscape. I have a solar pump that sits in water containers and feeds the irrigation tubes. I fill the water containers with a hose from a barrel.
http://www.gardeners.com/Solar%20Irrigation%20Kit/Watering_DroughtProofing,36-517,default,cp.html
We water our postage-size lawn by hooking a soaker hose to the large 165-gallon containers (we have 2 piggy-backed together).
Another thing to remember. The higher off the ground you place your barrels, the more flow you'll get (gravety feed). All of our containers are on a fiberglass (?) pad - like the ones they set air conditioner units on - to keep them from sinking and shifting into the dirt. Then at least one coarse of concrete blocks on top the pads. You need them at least that high to get your bucket/watering can under the spigot. We also have all our containers strapped to the house to keep them from accidently getting toppled over.
Even though we spent a lot of money on ours, they nearly paid for themselves the first year in water savings. Hardly a week goes by that someone doesn't stop and ask about our water barrels. I've even made a hand-out for the curious. We've been under water-use restrictions that will probably only get worse.
-Karen