Why buy a rain barrel?
Rain barrels provide you with clean, fresh rainwater. Rather than let a valuable resource sink down the drain, capture it and reuse it in your own garden long after the last rainfall. You'll cut down on your water costs, water usage, and not to mention, polluted rain runoff with this simple solution from Blue River.
Has your garden ever looked better than when the sun comes out just after a rainfall? Every gardener knows that fresh rainwater will make plants as healthy as they can be. Here are just a few more reasons why it's better to use rainwater from a rain barrel:
- help the environment by reducing water usage
- reduce water runoff to cut down on pollution and the burden on the city sewage system
- use clean, fresh rainwater without worrying about how it's been treated
- have plenty of water stored during those long summer droughts
- decorate your garden with a beautiful rustic rain barrel
- help promote green, sustainable living now. It's here, and we
can make a difference.
How do rain barrels work?
In a typical setup, a gutter is rerouted so that it drains into your rain barrels. The barrels will be connected to your standard garden hose, and you'll be able to use it for most of your watering needs.
As the water level in your barrels rises you'll get more and more pressure out of your hose. Once your barrels fill up, the water will be routed to your overflow valve, which you can drain back into your gutter. It's just that easy!
How much water can I really get from the rain?
For a house that has a footprint of 1000 square feet, after a 1 inch rainfall, 621 gallons of water can be collected! That seems like a lot, I know. That's because it is! A hypothetical water bill may show that you use 2 "units" of water each month, which is equivalent to about 1500 gallons of water. That means it would only have to rain less than 3 inches every month (which it does) for you to catch your bill's equivalent in rainwater. That's cool!
Not convinced? Need to see the numbers? Here we go: 1 inch is 0.083 feet, which means that a 1 inch rainfall times the footprint of an average house (1000 square feet) gives you 83 cubic feet of water. Convert this to gallons and, wha-la, we have 621 gallons!
Is there a way to store even more water? (linking barrels)
I know what you're thinking now: How can you harness all of that water with a 55 gallon barrel? First off, it's not that bad; a 1 inch rainfall is a big rainfall. It usually rains less than that, but more often to average about 3 to 4 inches per month (according to the University of Minnesota SULIS program). So as long as you are regularly using your collected rainwater, even a single 55 gallon barrel can capture a large portion of the rainwater each month.
However, it is always a good idea to be more prepared, so if you're interested in having a larger capacity, LINKING BARRELS is your answer. It's easy. With one of our easy to install linking kits, just use the standard garden hose valves that come with each of your barrels and you're set. The beauty of the system is that it's designed so that your barrels will always be at the same level, and on top of that using the second (or third...) barrel will be as easy as using the first; you don't need to disconnect or reconnect anything!
Do rain barrels require any maintenance?
There is little to no maintenance required for your rain barrels, especially since our rain barrels come with a screened inlet that blocks debris and insects from getting inside. As long as you keep the screen clear of debris you won't have to worry about them at all, and this isn't much of a problem at all with the design of our plastic barrels; they're made to wash away the debris with every rainfall. Of course, we all know that a Minnesota winter can shorten the lifespan of anything that sits out, so if you can put your barrels away or at least cover them for the winter so that now water can get into them.
The reason you want to empty your barrel for the winter is because water expands when it freezes, and you don't want a lot of water expanding in your barrel, especially in the fixtures. It's even more important to make sure your barrels are empty if they are wooden, because water can get in the tiny little cracks of the wood, expand, and continue to make those cracks bigger every time they refreeze. An easy answer to this is to get a Custom Cut for an extra drainage valve. Come winter time, just open your drainage valve and stop worrying.
How can I improve the performance of my rain barrels?
One thing to keep in mind is that the water won't flow unless your watering nozzle is below the water level in your barrel. To ensure your watering is always convenient, we recommend that you install your rain barrel with a rain barrel stand. You still won't have the same pressure that the city gives you (after all, the cities water towers are many stories higher than your house), but having your rain barrel elevated even a couple of feet will guarantee that your water will always flow.
Another solution is to get one of our soaker hose irrigation kits. With this kit, all you have to do is open the water valve and let the hose soak your plants
Need more technical info? Let's talk physics. Remember Bernoulli's equation, which talks about Pressure, Elevation, and Velocity. Anyway, assuming your water is standing still at the nozzle (which is necessary when thinking about standing pressure) Bernoulli's equation becomes ΔP = pgΔh where P is pressure, p is density of water, g is 9.8m/s2, and h is height. So it's clear that pressure is directly related to the height of your water, and it's easy to plug and chug.
Specifically, for every foot that your water level rises, you gain 0.433 psi. To put this into perspective, your city faucet gives you roughly 30 to 40 psi. But don't fret, you don't need all that to do the watering around your garden. You just won't be able to power your sprinkler system. Again, if you're worried about it, let us suggest installing (or letting us install) a soaker hose irrigation system. Once it's in, watering your garden is as easy as opening a valve. Best of all, since it can go underground, you can minimize how much water you lose to evaporation. Give your plants water directly!