Comments on: Rain Barrel: Outdoor Gadgets That Save Money

By: John

John — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 16:47:13 +0000

You’d be surprised how much rain comes off of your roof. Just look how much is pouring out of your downspouts. Rain barrels are a good way to capture some of this free water for later use in the garden. You can build one out of a standard 55 gallon plastic drum – your gutter just dumps right into it.

By: Aleta

Aleta — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 13:37:42 +0000

I would love to do one of these. You can check into your Jr. colleges that teach this course and I have seen those barrels at a more affordable price, plus you can make your own. My plants and yard always respond more to rain water rather than city water.

My aunt used to collect rain water to wash her hair and she was a cosmetologist. She said it made her hair softer.

By: Jeffrey

Jeffrey — Sat, 18 Aug 2012 16:39:32 +0000

Good question. A couple points to this — most people that get rain barrels (at least in my experience) get two to three, not just one, so you are talking 8 or 6 rains over the entire summer season. The second is that it really doesn’t take much rain to fill up a rain barrel because it is accumulating rain from the roof top — an area that is much larger than the surface area of the barrel itself. Now, if you live in an area where it rains a lot, then obviously the need for rain barrels wouldn’t be as cost effective as areas where there is less rain.

By: Joan

Joan — Sat, 18 Aug 2012 16:15:41 +0000

If one 80 gallon barrel can provide 1300 gallons of water over the summer, doesn’t that mean it has filled up 16.5 times by rains? Does your garden need more rain after all that?