Conserving Water

For the last two years I have wanted to get a rain barrel for the back yard to collect rain water (duh?) to use on the growing garden scape instead of overusing tap water. The barrels are incredibly expensive in my opinion, $100 and up. And I wanted something designed specifically for collecting rainwater not just a container that would become a nesting site for mosquitoes.

In early spring Jeff found an ad in the local paper about a Waste Reduction Day where they would be offering the city rain barrels for the bargain price of $45 including tax. I thought for the price even if it was small it was a good deal so we headed out the next morning to pick one up. Let me tell you, it is fricking huge. Bigger than the ones being offered for the $100 plus I mentioned. And it was a nice beige that blends in with the scenery. It will hold about 55 gallons of rain water.

Yesterday Jeff was able to take some time to set it up (hello exam time). Hence this post and the photos. Jeff said I had to include his best side. You can figure out what side that is. One of the things I admire about Jeff is that he is not one to do things half way. I would have put down a couple bricks and plopped the barrel in place. Jeff? Well, he built a cedar table for it to sit on, dug a whole to stick the legs of the table in to bury them so the table can't tip over an then engineered the eaves to drain into the barrel.

Now, not only do we recycle and compost, we conserve water too.

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Topic Links
* Systern Rain Barrel