Are rain barrels worth bothering with?

[Wetfoot]

SWMBO and I are trying to decide if we should bother with a rain barrel. We have a few landscaping plants around the house, a few specimen trees (including the all important sour cherry tree that I make wine from), and four raised beds (4 footers) with veggies/herbs. We are in Kentucky. Our water bill is based on 1000 gallon increments, and most of that goes towards sewer, not actual water use.

If we install a rain barrel, that will involve an olive barrel plus fittings and some sort of stand with gutter connection. I have read that one should not use water from your roof on edible plants (bird poo contamination). Also, if we manage to collect 55 gallons of water, and use it, what's the advantage over using municipal water? Is there a cost savings? Will it be worth the hassle of installing, cleaning, and schlepping the water?

Thanks for any insights!

 

[Pumbaa]

just a heads up . . . you'll be getting a LOT more then 55 gallons of water off your roof even in a lite rain. I wish I could answer more of your questions but TBH I am spoiled rotten when it comes to an abundance of water . . . we have that puddle just to the east of us

 

[JNye]

IMO, no. water is still too cheap. You need a LARGE resevoir system to make a dent in your useage. Since you use a lot of water outdoors and you say you pay the majority for sewer you could contact your city and try to get another water meter for irrigation. They should deduct that usage OFF the sewer numbers.

 

[bob1852]

In some areas, (you'll love this pumbaa), it's against the law to capture rain-water....

Something about water rights issues.

 

[maxamuus]

In some areas, (you'll love this pumbaa), it's against the law to capture rain-water....

Something about water rights issues.

Yup... http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=4001252

 

[Pumbaa]

In some areas, (you'll love this pumbaa), it's against the law to capture rain-water....

Something about water rights issues.

Yup... http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=4001252

ROFLMAO

If I wasnt 12 shots in to the night I'd probably be twitching
**** them, come and stop me ******** . . . I have 14 +1 in the chamber if ya think it's really worth it

**EDIT**
It figures it's Utah, ****ing Mormons. I have no problem with them except they constantly try to tell me what I can and cant do. I'ts a shame actually I would love to live off of Hwy 89

 

[Chops]

we went to the zoo yesterday and they had rain barrels with info signs on them. apparently one 55 gallon barrel is enough to water around 10 plants for the season and an average house could gather about 100 barrels worth of rain water per year.

 

[Pappers_]

SWMBO and I are trying to decide if we should bother with a rain barrel.

The answer to the question "Are rain barrels worth bothering with?" depends almost entirely on why you want to use a rain barrel. What's your motivation? Frugality? Conservation? Self-reliance? Or?

 

[mcarb]

I love my rain barrels. The best thing it does is slow down runoff. Normally, rain hits the ground, soaks in, and slowly trickles through the aquifer to the nearest stream. With houses, roofs, roads,.... this water runs off and causes flooding etc. The rain barrel helps slow down this runoff. Any little bit helps.

Also you get the water. And it is quite a bit.

 

[rosier9]

I doubt that an average household could actually get 100 barrels full of water a year (if you only have one or two barrels). I don't really feel like watering the garden while its raining just to refill the barrel...

I wouldn't worry about using the rain barrel water on vegetables since the birds aren't really discriminate on where they poop anyways...

I have looked at these as well, and have not been able to justify it...

Also, the time my gardens need watering is when its not raining to fill the barrel...

 

[JNye]

The answer to the question "Are rain barrels worth bothering with?" depends almost entirely on why you want to use a rain barrel. What's your motivation? Frugality? Conservation? Self-reliance? Or?

+1 I was responding earlier with the notion you want to save money. If its just a fun project with some benefits, go for it. I may do it one day, I don't expect to save much. I think the biggest issue, for me anyways, is that when the barrel is being filled its the rainy season. So you really need quite a few barrels so they get filled when its raining, then you'll still have a lot of water when its not.

 

[Pilgarlic]

I have a rain barrel. It's an easy, one-day project and, although it doesn't reduce our water use dramatically, it all helps. Water is a real issue in our part of Florida and, despite that, nearly half of the water from the county water utility goes to irrigation. I want to be as little a part of that as I can. Heads up: the barrel fills almost instantly in a good rain, so you have to provide for the excess and how it's handled to avoid erosion.

 

[bob1852]

How much does a rain barrel cost? How much does 55 gallons of water cost?

 

[JNye]

I got 4 barrels for free from a friend. I gave 2 to my FIL and he uses the for RBs, I use the other 2 for RO water storage for my reef aquarium. They are pretty readily available on craigs for around $10 in my area.

I would guess 55 gallons of water would cost me less then 5 cents

 

[mr_goodwrench]

Around here, 55 gallons of water would cost me about a quarter. I guess the idea of a rain barrel is more of a conservation thing than a money saving thing. You would need a cistern to store the water in order to realize any cost savings on your water bill. Of course, if you are going that far, it would take years to recoup the startup cost.

That said, I plan on doing some sort of rain barrel setup when we buy our next house (fingers crossed that the bank accepts our offer...) to water outside plants.

 

[Wetfoot]

Thanks for all the responses. That's what I was looking for - some actual user experience. It seems that rain barrels are in every print magazine about home ownership, like This Old House and others.

I would like to see the project have some sort of financial or convenience payoff, but I doubt it will. I might do it in the future for environmental reasons, but that will put it on the back burner. Heck, the best thing I did for stormwater runoff was change the valve cover gasket on our car - that thing left a sheen on the driveway every time it rained.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

EdWort did a rainwater Kölsch one year using water from a neighbor's rain barrel. It was fantastic. I doubt that a single 55 gallon rain barrel is going to put a dent in your bill, but it might open up some interesting options for brewing.

 

[Tnoodle]

I work at a plant nursery and we use city water on all of our plants, the only thing rain water will do for you is give your plants a few more nutrients than the city water. What I have learned is that if you water your plants with city water and do not have good drainage in your beds it will poison your plants. Just take some of your city water and put it in a clear plastic saucer, let it evaporate. Do this 3 or 4 times without rinsing it and you will see salt start to accumulate after every evaporation. My garden is about 20' by 20' with 12 tomato plants some yellow squash and some habanero peppers and I use city water on all of it.

 

[onthekeg]

I have crappy well water so when I make pilsners and lite colored beer I use rain water that I carbon filter. I also use the rain water for my hops since if I used well water, they would be stained orange from the iron.

 

[ratfarmer]

My plan for this year is to get a barrel or 2 to catch the water that i'd be using on my immersion chiller to then use to water my new hops garden.

I know I wouldn't be saving that much money but i'd feel better about using the water for something vs having it be otherwise wasted.

We get too much rain here for me to hook barrels up to my downspouts.

 

[Pilgarlic]

I capture my IC wastewater in two containers that total about 15 gallons, and my groundwater is much warmer than yours. What volume of wort are you chilling that might require 1-2 barrels (55-110 gallons) of water?

 

[Scooby_Brew]

Here is mine, right next to my hop garden:

It works great, I collect the excess water from brewing in there too, so I can reuse it. It cost me ~$30 or so.

 

[kpr121]

ROFLMAO

If I wasnt 12 shots in to the night I'd probably be twitching
**** them, come and stop me ******** . . . I have 14 +1 in the chamber if ya think it's really worth it

**EDIT**
It figures it's Utah, ****ing Mormons. I have no problem with them except they constantly try to tell me what I can and cant do. I'ts a shame actually I would love to live off of Hwy 89

Another reason why some cities do not allow you to capture rainwater is if they are on a combined system (stormwater/sewage goes to the same place). Some urban cities have laws about disconnecting your downspouts from the underground drainage pipes. Causes more harm than good when you have all that excess water that would be going to the sewage plant flowing in your 2x12 patch of grass you call a yard and it floods the neighbors basement.

 

[beergolf]

The city I live in gave them away for the last few years. I have one that I just hooked up to a soaker hose in my day lilly garden. If we get a lot of rain the overflow tube just runs to another garden.

It save me having to water those gardens most of the summer.

You are not going to save a ton of money, but they work good.

 

[ratfarmer]

What volume of wort are you chilling that might require 1-2 barrels (55-110 gallons) of water?

Haha I never said it was a barrel of water per batch. I have been brewing more consistently lately so I might as well try to save some of that water.

 

[Homercidal]

I'm thinking about setting up about 2 barrels just to water my new hops bed. I could collect water from my garage roof and fill the barrels in one decent rain, then have water on demand for any dry times. You know them hops love to be watered!

Plus, the barrels would be uphill from the hops. so I could run the hose underground and not have to move it to mow. Bonus!

 

[zac]

My mom has several of these barrels even though she is on well water. She actually took a free class at a local state park & they gave her all the materials for the first barrel for free. We've got them here, but I don't really use it b/c I never water anything outside after its established.

I don't think the bird poop issue from the roof is even worth thinking about, those birds dont poop in your garden do they?

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

SWMBO and I are trying to decide if we should bother with a rain barrel. We have a few landscaping plants around the house, a few specimen trees (including the all important sour cherry tree that I make wine from), and four raised beds (4 footers) with veggies/herbs. We are in Kentucky. Our water bill is based on 1000 gallon increments, and most of that goes towards sewer, not actual water use.

If we install a rain barrel, that will involve an olive barrel plus fittings and some sort of stand with gutter connection. I have read that one should not use water from your roof on edible plants (bird poo contamination). Also, if we manage to collect 55 gallons of water, and use it, what's the advantage over using municipal water? Is there a cost savings? Will it be worth the hassle of installing, cleaning, and schlepping the water?

Thanks for any insights!

Bird poo contamination huh? I bet those same people who sighted that also use manure in their gardens, guano, or chicken poo. TBH, it isn't so much the poo that is the issue of concern as the unknowns of the products of the shingles, especially asphalt, that may leach into the water.

The advantage over Muni water is taht a rain barrel system is free water. Non treated, Non chlorinated, Non flouridated, etc....

Schlepping the water is a PITA especially if you have a lot of area to cover. You could also install a sump pump and connect a 100' hose for less schlepping. Ultimately, rain barrels or mostly ideal for people whop want to keep gardens but are prone to drought and rationings.

 

[patriciathorney]

for me yes, but it depends on your situation...as you said you have few plants, i guess its worth bothering.

 

[bad coffee]

I have a 20 gallon bin collecting all the drips from my AC. I use it to water the plants. Not that I can't just use the hose, but I figure why waste the free water.

B