Ahh, the sun is shining and my lawn and garden are looking beautiful despite the weeds! With all this rain last week, my rain barrel is full. Harvesting rain may not seem like a pressing issue here in the northeast with the plentiful water supplies we enjoy, but there are a lot of benefits to harvesting rainwater even if you have more than enough coming from your hose.
Benefits of using water from your roof are the following:
1. Reduce the runoff from your house
a. Runoff from buildings and paved surfaces pick up pollutants such as oil, chemicals, and trash and deposits them into ponds, streams, lakes and rivers
2. Your plants and gardens will love the unchlorinated ambient water
3. Save money on your water bill or conserve well water
Harvesting rain is simple. You can hook up a barrel to a down spout or under a drip line in your roof. I’ve had several workshops where we build rain barrels using 55 gallon food grade barrels. It doesn’t cost much and reuses the barrels. Don’t worry about the mosquitoes either. Simply place one-quarter mosquito dunk in a stocking and tie it to the top of the barrel. It will rise and fall with the water and safely prevent mosquitoes. Keep an eye out for upcoming rain barrel workshops and visit here to learn how to reduce stormwater pollution in other ways.