Rain barrell

[lesa]

Well, I am pretty sure that is the most ingenious thing I have ever seen!!! What ever gave you the idea? Talk about a wonderful reuse, recycle project! Good for you!

 

[big brown horse]

Awesome!! How did you ever come up with that idea?

 

[Greensage45]

I think I was over at SS and ran into a post where someone had linked a SelfSufficient community blog, and in this blog I saw they had used old cloth to create a temporary gutter.

So to be honest with you, I cannot remember where I saw that, I cannot even remember when I saw that; I just know I brooded long enough wishing I had my barrel in a situation where I could actively collect rainwater. So last week I said to myself "I have to do something" and I began thinking of how to waterproof fabric. My first thoughts were on paint dropcloth material or heavier canvas. That is when I began to hear the cash register bell going off again... uggh.

So, I did some household rummaging. The solution was in letting it happen. LOL

Ron

 

[blue skys]

Very cool, Greensage!!! Very cool!

 

[mener6896]

getting back to the rain barrels, I have a question:

I've read mixed messages about using rain water collected from asphalt shingled roofs to water vegetables/gardens.

anyones thoughts?

I'm really wanting to use this for my garden and chickens...

my chicken coop is a long way from the house, I currently have about a 250' hose stretched down there. I was hoping to install a rain barrel onto my chicken coop.

(the garden is also down by the coop)

 

[injunjoe]

I would say it depends on the shingles.
Very old shingles had some bad chemicals in them.
With todays shingles they are much improved. I would collect the water and use it!

I have a tourch down roof and use all of the water from my house to water with.

Joe

 

[Broke Down Ranch]

My mom collected rain water every chance she had. I can still hear her calling me to help haul out the buckets to catch the water. For her it wasn't about saving on the water bill, it was about the rain water being SOOO much better for the plants. I don't think she ever even gave the shingles a second thought. And this was 30+ years ago.....

 

[msbear]

First off.. I want to say... Ron, you are the man! Every time I see one of your posts, there is some other ingenious idea you have come up with.

I am (my husband is) making a rain barrel this Spring. I have seen how to keep the mosquitos out but what about the algae build up. Some say paint it black.. but I think that would heat up the water too much and would still allow some algae to grow.

Any thought on this? Thanks a bunch.

Awesome rain barrels, btw. I really enjoyed this thread.

 

[patandchickens]

I have seen how to keep the mosquitos out but what about the algae build up. Some say paint it black.. but I think that would heat up the water too much and would still allow some algae to grow.

Remember that algae only grows if it has nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, etc) and light. Not much algae grows in a rainbarrel there if you a) clean your gutters regularly so what goes into the rain barrel is pretty much pure rainwater without extra added nutrients, and b) keep the barrel dark.

And honestly a bit of algae will not hurt your garden anyhow. In principle you don't want lots of *bacterial* slime growing in there and then getting splashed onto edible garden items, but again, unless you 've got high nutrient concentrations in the water, it won't be much of a problem, and if it bugs you, just make sure to empty the rainbarrel regularly and occasionally let it stand dry (pref. with the top off). That is not necessary up here but in a hot climate I suppose one might occasionally want to do it.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[msbear]

Pat, you're just as much help on here as you are on BYC. Thanks!