Water, water, water…
Here in the DFW area, we’re having one of the wettest Springs we’ve had in years. Seems like we’ve only gone a day or two without rain this year. I’ve got plants drowning in the yard. It’s so wet that the mushrooms are rotting where they are growing. But here in a couple of months ( or even weeks ) it’s going to be dry and blazing hot again and when the water restrictions are in place, we’re going to wish we had all this rain back.
Which brings me to the point. All of this rain water washes into the gutters and storm drains and then into the nearest stream or river, mixes with all the other pollutants and contaminants and eventually down to Gulf - where it is virtually unusable.
I keep thinking how great it would be to be able to capture that rain and use it at a later time. Internet research time!!!!
Believe it or not, for every inch of rain that falls on a catchment area of 1,000 square feet, you can expect to collect approximately 600 gallons (!!!!) of rainwater. Here are some of the creative ways that people are capturing and reusing rain water. One of the most common ways people capture rain water is in rain barrels. There are numerous brands and types of barrels out there. Typically they come in 60 gallon to 80 gallon models. Say you have a 2,000 sf home, and decided on the 80 gallon barrels. If it rained only 1 inch, you’d need at least 15 barrels. Unfortunately, at $80 to $150 a piece (IMHO) they are still a bit too expensive for the average homeowner.
RainSaver also has a 80 gallon system, but it sells for $299 (and is way out of my budgeting league).
Of course, if you’re a cheap skate, you could try using 55 gallon garbage cans or perhaps even a stock tank. Another idea would be to check with a soda pop distributor… Supposedly they have 55 gallon food-grade drums, perhaps they could be gotten cheaply… perhaps even FREE!!
For more information (stats and statistics) please see the Rain Barrel Guide.
rain, barrel, conservation, water
June 1st, 2007 at 1:23 pm
[...] news today is filled with news of drought in parts of the US. Urban Ecoist writes about ways to save/reuse what little rain you see: One of the most common ways people [...]