Using a Rain Barrel to Save Water
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Looking for a way to save money on water and also have enough water for your plants or garden? How about a rain barrel.
It’s always a good idea to save water wherever you live and rain barrels are the perfect solution. I love using our barrel to water the plants around the house, but with water being a premium price here in Central Florida, I do all I can to not waste water in the yard.
One garden item I have been using for several years now is a rain barrel. Living in Florida means its hot and you pay dearly for your water usage. I have a lot of potted plants around the house and having the rain barrel has saved me some money for sure. And during the rainy season, my barrel is always full. It only takes a small amount of rain to fill this barrel up.
I love the flat back on it so it fits snugly against the wall and the screen keeps mosquitoes from laying eggs. As you can see in the picture above, the rain gutter spout sits on top and lets the rain drain into the screen. For a couple of years, we didn’t notice how all the water that didn’t go in the barrel was eroding away the sandy ground all around the barrel and the area in front of it. If it poured hard the water would pour down the side of the barrel where the plants were. You can see also in the picture I had bricks holding the rain gutter spout still because the water coming down the spout could get pretty intense sometimes. The barrel had sunk about 4 inches in the ground from all the rain eating away the dirt under the concrete blocks. We needed to figure a better way to divert the rainwater and not cause erosion.
So, we decided to move it to another area of the house and purchase a rain barrel diverter. Oh my, what a difference it made in how easy it is to keep rain from eroding the ground. I have the short hose connected to the on-off valve so my watering bucket spout can collect water easily. The barrel is now closer to the majority of my pots.
It was really easy to add to our rain barrel and the gutter. When the barrel is full, the water goes back into the diverter to head out the rain gutter and onto the grass. No more erosion. You can open the clear plastic area and pull out any leaves or debris that may collect there. The video below shows how easy it is to install and why it’s great to have a rain barrel.
I love the idea of using the rain to water my plants and my garden and not water with chemicals in it. And I love saving money too.
There are so many different types of rain barrels out there to choose from. But I do highly suggest a rain gutter diverter to keep you from having the same erosion problems we had.
If you have any garden questions or have found a great new plant to grow, let us know about it. Gardening is learning from others and sharing new ideas really helps me with future posts to pass along to you.
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I love how your rain barrel is set up! It’s great that it has a flat back so it sits flush against the wall! I’d love to get one of those for our backyard so we can conserve the rain we get! Great idea!
I love that feature so much. Very easy to set up.
I don’t do well with gardens. I always seem to kill off the plants so I stay away but I hope to get better as I get older and learn how to take care of one properly with the right tools and chemicals
I found it was easier to start out small and only plant what will grow in your area. I’ve lost a lot of plants because I tried to grow something that Florida weather doesn’t like. Thanks for stopping by
I have always wondered how easy those are to install and to use. What a great way to recycle water, conserving it is so important with how crazy hot it can get. Great way to help the kids learn conserving water as well.
The grandkids love using the rain barrel and teaching them how to conserve. Thanks for stopping by
They are looking great. I can’t wait to see when you are harvesting the veggies. I wish I had a space for a garden. It would be nice to grow your own vegetables and herbs.
I love how you have your rain barrel set up! Even with water not in shortage here, it’s still a great way to use natural resources that would otherwise go to wait. I can’t wait to get a garden set up in my yard – I loved growing veggies as a kid.
Thank you Jaime.
I’ve always wondering about getting one of these. Living in Florida it would really dome good to get one since it rains so much.
I have only ran out of water during the winter 1 time since I have been using my rain barrel. I don’t water that much during the winter but I still have a couple of pots with flowers in them. But it only takes a short rain and its full again. Thanks for stopping by Jennifer