| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Clare |
Posted - Jul 04 2005 : 06:56:31 AM
Just got my latest High Country Gardens newsletter with this helpful tidbit on using rain barrels as a very good way to conserve water as it fits into the xeriscape concept:
Xeriscape Principle #7: Capturing Rain and Snow Runoff
By Mary Ann Walz
Capturing runoff makes sense.
Gone are the days when the best thing to do with runoff was to get it off your property as quickly as possible. Now most government entities require that grading and drainage plans be prepared to retain runoff. Constructed environments such as roofs and paved surfaces generate a lot of runoff from snow and rain
Amounts of runoff:
1 sq. ft of water = 7.5 gallons
2,000 sq. ft house receiving 12" of precipitation annually = 15,000 gal/yr.
1/2" of rain on a 2,000 sq. ft. roof will produce approx. 625 gallons ofwater
Methods to capture water include:
rain barrels - tops screened to keep insects our and equipped with hose spigots to get water out
cisterns -- underground tanks with pumps
swales -- shallow ditches along the lower contour of a slope
French drains -- trenches filled with gravel then covered
terraced gardens - flat, contoured planting bedding areas to contain water
Homeowners can do some of these, but methods such as a cistern or extensive grading, may be best left to a professional. You might want to refer to our July 2002 article http://www.highcountrygardens.com/article146.html
on water harvesting for more detailed information on this subject.
However you capture it, take advantage of the free water. Your plants and your pocketbook will be happy.
****Gardener, Stitcher, Spiritual Explorer and Appreciator of all Things Natural****
"Begin to weave and God will give the thread." - German Proverb |
| 4 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Nicol |
Posted - Jul 14 2005 : 2:11:10 PM
I just bought my first rain barrel and am waiting for a drainspout diverter from Gardeners Supply Company. I am excited to get this started. We get an annual average of 16.5 inches of rain here. I will see how quickly the first barrel fills and add barrels if necessary. |
| Eileen |
Posted - Jul 04 2005 : 12:24:04 PM
I have 7 50 gallon rainbarrels linked together to get some of the rain we get here. Want to get a cistern or 1000 gallon water drum due to the amount we get that I cannot capture. I got my barrels at cenex. They are previously used food barrels from import that formerly contained olives and pickles. They are orange with nice twist off lids that are about 10 inches wide and where the seal goes into them I have replaced with shade cloth screen. heavy duty nylon screen. I put them under the gutter off the pole building. hey are linked with pvc at the top so one runns over into the next one as they fill up. Mine got filled up during the first rain storm after I installed them and get refilled every time it rains. There is a spiggot installed in the bottom of most of them as this was how they came. I paid $ 20.00 each for them and find them a great investment. I know of other people who have large cattle troughs under their gutters to use as rain barrels but I find them hard to keep clean. This summer I will be getting a pump to put into mine so I can use them on some of the upper slopes. I use this only for irrigation so I occasionally place a shovelfull of worm compost into a burlap bag and steep it in the last barrel to use as an inoculant on my plants as well as to fertilise them.
Eileen
songbird; singing joy to the earth |
| pegC |
Posted - Jul 04 2005 : 10:26:56 AM
I'm pretty sure it was the most recent issue (or one back) of Countryside Magazine that described how to build your own rainbarrel, including screen and spout. It's on my list of to-do's. The last two issues are currently circulating between my husband and his friends; but I can get more details on the return if anyone is interested. For now, I have a collection of buckets out in the yard to collect rain water. Most of my gardening is over our septic leach field which has proved to be a asset in dry weather and I have some incredibly fertile, but very heavy, soil. Friends who have given me plants cannot believe how they take off here. I have lots of sun, too.
Peg
Jersey Farm Girl in Training |
| greyghost |
Posted - Jul 04 2005 : 09:53:48 AM
There was a lady who made the nicest rain barrels and brought them to market sometimes in Fl - but I never did manage to find her and get one of my own. It's definitely on my list tho! :) |
