I got these all set up and installed yesterday, and one of them is already full!
And we got less than 1 inch of rain last night.
The barrel under the downspout was actually overflowing, so I had to manually wiggle the tube connecting the two barrels to get the siphon action going.
Maybe we'll buy two more. But from a different company. We ordered these on Amazon from a Texas company. These are re-purposed olive brining barrels or something. They drilled out holes in the barrel wall to install inlet and outlet joints, but they used the wrong kind of caulking material to seal the joints. I had to re-do their work. (Apparently, in Texas they're too busy bilking Californians out of money from our electric bills to learn how to properly caulk a joint! Heh, heh.) And, they left the bits of drilled out plastic inside the barrel instead of tipping them out. Take some pride in your work, people.
Anyway, whatever, this is very exciting.
10 comments:
I'm sorry you had messes left in your barrels. I got one, also a re-purposed olive barrel, and it was just fine, with no problems at all. Maybe a different company, though. I've been lurking and enjoying your blog from this side of the country for a while now. Thanks for all the information you give us, and for your great pix.
Thanks for saying hello. I very much enjoyed Savannah the three times I visited. I'm glad your re-purposed olive barrels worked out. I'm optimistic these can be made to function perfectly too. I can't believe I went for so long without having rain barrels.
Hi Chuck,
I've thought about getting a rain barrel or two but then I start to do the math and the numbers just don't add up for me and my location and climate.
If it rained periodically during the summer I could see the barrels benefit but I don't receive any rainfall in the summer.
The days that it does rain in the spring, say from late Feb to early April would probably be enough to fill a couple of barrels but by June I would think all the water would be used up by then and then I would have large empty barrels sitting in my rather small garden from mid June through Oct - Nov. taking up valuable real estate.
Please convince me and or educate me as to how I can use rain barrels effectively in my dry northern california garden.
PS. - love love LOVE the 'favorite photos from 2007.
Michelle
Okay, I'll make a post about it.
That does it. I really need to get some rain barrels.
But... why do they all have to look so, I don't know, utilitarian? Yours seem tucked away, but where mine would be, they would be the first thing you see in the backyard garden and they would have to sit on the driveway right next to the house. *sigh*
Yes, they're tucked away in deep shade. And they're black so you don't really get what they are until you get up close. That's a big part of why they work so well!
There's gotta be room in the rain barrel market space for better aesthetics.
You could put a lathe trellis around yours grow an annual vine...
Very exciting! You'll have so much stored water, it'll be interesting to see if you need to turn on a faucet all season.
Re: rain barrel appearance
In-the-box idea: paint 'em. Examples:
http://hillsborough_fyn.ifas.ufl.edu/RainBarrelPics.html
http://www.kentuckypride.com/campaigns/stormwater/artist07/artistic_barrels07.htm
Out-of-the-box idea: create a rain garden instead. From http://home.comcast.net/~leavesdance/rainbarrels/construction.html:
"A modest-sized, well-constructed rain garden can handle much more water, in general. Plus you get lovely foliage and flowers, and provide habitat to the other creatures that share the planet with us. These pages are about rain barrels, so we encourage you to browse around the Internet and contact local organizations for more information on rain gardens. Consider adding one to your yard. You'll create beauty, support biodiversity, and increase your property's value. You might get some sore muscles creating the garden, but think of the good karma you'll be building up. Can't have too much of that, eh?"
Rain barrels can look nice as well! Check out mine:
http://garden-pond-accents.blogspot.com/2008/05/great-new-pictures-of-my-rain-barrel.html
Just a quick FYI, the URL to our popular rain barrel site, posted earlier in the thread, has changed...
http://tylertork.com/diyrainbarrels/construction.html
Rain Barrels - Build your own instructions, Safety, Calculator, and more!
Thank you, and Happy Watering!
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