Water harvesting and use of Rain barrels
Written by: georgewonderman
Total views: 69 |
Word Count: 466 |
Date: Fri, 31 Oct 2008 |
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Rain water that is typically lost to runoff, streams or sewers can be collected from your roof and stored in rain barrels. Typically rain barrels are made of a 55 gallon drum, a vinyl hose, PVC couplings and a screen grate. It simply has to be positioned underneath the gutter of your roof and it will collect the rain water while it is pouring.
Rain barrels are efficient for the purpose of water harvesting and conservation. Use of rain barrels can help in tackling the problem of water shortage and cut down the costs of water consumption. When used correctly the use of rain barrels can provide you with a barrel full of water in a good season. Rain water collected on your roof can be collected in a rain barrel and put to good use. The collected rain water can be employed in maintaining your garden and flowers or washing cars or windows. It is possible to store as much rain water annually that can suffice for one summer on the basis of the number of rain barrels used. During peak summer months, a rain barrel can collect about 1,300 gallons of rain water.
The benefits of using rain barrels not only include the cost cutting on water expenditure. The water collected is soft water and is excellent for garden use. Rain water is untreated containing no chlorine, lime or calcium and therefore really good for the garden and washing your car and windows. Rain barrels can be used at locations where it is inconvenient to have a spigot. Rain barrels can provide you with water when it is most required like in drought months. The environmental benefit of using rain barrels is undeniable as they efficiently conserve rain water which is the most easily available sources of natural water.
The rain barrels should be kept securely covered to prevent the hazard of children or pets falling into it. Also, the water in the rain barrels should not be used for cooking, drinking or bathing. If a moss killer or some other spray has been used on the roof then a couple of initial rainfalls should not be collected. The rain barrels should be kept a little elevated to make the spigot easily accessible. For more hoarding ability, more than one barrel can be used. They can be joint together to be able to hold more rain water.
Rain barrels can be constructed at home but the equipments require technical skills besides being expensive. Not only is the process lengthy and time consuming, but it also requires a lot of skill to get all the parts right. Contrastingly, it is easier to buy ready made rain barrels as they are readily available and spares one the time and energy required to make one.
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See more on water conservation, browse to www.palmettorainbarrels.com.
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