How to use Conserve rain water with Rain Barrels
Since my blog is all about house and home, I thought I would include some information on rain barrel systems. I have recently installed them on my home and love them! In these times conservation of water is becoming more and more important, and thats why all of us should do our parts to help save water. One easy and inexpensive way to do this is to collect rain water using rain barrels. In the process you will find that this method will actually save you money when it comes to watering your yard and/or garden. This is especially a good idea if you live in a region where rain may be scarce or there are droughts. In even if you don’t live in an area where there are droughts using rain water to conserve water will help the environment as there are water shortages in various places. Studies show that the water table is lowering all over the planet, and many freshwater sources are beginning to dry up in the United States as well as other countries. While the amount of water on the planet doesn’t change most is salt water and before it is able to be used for human consumption and irrigation for farming it must first be desalinized, or in other words have the salt removed from it. You can do your part by trying to conserve as much water as possible for you and your family. This is where rain barrels come in.
Building a rain barrel system is easy and inexpensive, let’s go over the steps on how to do this. You’ll be able to find the supplies for this system at most hardware stores. Using a rain barrel system will be much easier if you have a drainage system already installed on your home , such as a gutter system. If you don’t already have a gutter system you may need to purchase one or you can make one using a large circumference PVC pipe with the running linkth of your rooftop. You can take the PVC pipe and you will need to split it in half so that you have too long C shaped pipes. You also need to buy a 90° elbow that will fit on the end of this C. shaped PVC. You can buy wire to support the system, or some other means to connect your new drain to your rooftop. You also need to buy pipe that will be inserted into the 90° elbow and run down the side of your house. Hopefully your house already has a drainage system, if so you can skip all these steps. Let’s go over what you will need to purchase in order to build your rain barrel system.
1. You will need a large barrel around 90 to 200 gallons. This barrel will need to come with a lid and cap. You can buy a PVC insert , but this insert will also need to expand to a larger circumference at the top, this is in order to collect more rainwater. It would be a good idea to also get a piece of metal mesh that you can use as a screen for the top of the rain cap to catch any pieces of debris such as dirt and leaves, this can be secured down with a hose clamp.
2. Drill a small hole into the cap of the barrel. You can buy a few metal plumbing pipes, one 1-2” male to male pipe, one 90° elbow, and male to male pipe that should be a least 10 inches long. These should be connected in that order using Teflon tape to make sure there are no leaks. The small metal pipe will then be inserted into the hole on the cap. The elbow and other pipe should should run out past the side of the barrel here you can attach a water hose spigot. Now you can flip the barrel over and cut another hole on this side where you will then put your PVC insert with screen filter. Place the barrel underneath your gutter drainage system. To make sure the barrels been placed properly, you can take your hose with water running and put it into your gutter, then make sure your rain barrel is in the proper location to collect all the water. You then attach a hose to your spigot. Making this system should be easy and inexpensive.
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