Rain Barrels

I decided to buy the rain barrel shown above before water conservation measures took effect in 2009. It holds 320 gallons and it’s larger than many you will find on the web but I think the larger sizes make more sense if you have the space.

I fill it with a pipe from the roof of the garage and at the bottom is an outlet connected to a hose. There’s a mesh filter on the top to catch debris (the lid on top comes off and the filter goes in there). To avoid mosquitoes the overflow hole visible at the front top needs to be plugged when the tank isn’t being filled.

I bought the rain barrel from Watertanks.com here who arranged with a Gardena distributor to truck it to me. It is only suitable for the garden and cannot be used for drinking water. If you are interested in buying smaller ones, there’s a great selection at this site - here but they seem over-priced. Most of them are about the same size as trash containers and they sit at the foot of downspouts. Home Depot has some cheaper ones - I bought the Fiskars Tuscany 57-gallon one for $100 and it’s great. Make sure it has a functioning faucet.