Rain, Rain, Come Again
A half-inch of rain on a 1,000-square-foot roof produces an astonishing 616 gallons of water, water that is free of chemical additives and free for the taking. All too often that water is wasted, passing through the gutters and downspouts straight into the sewer system, serving no purpose other than burdening the wastewater system. Disconnecting downspouts from the sewer system, which the City encourages, can certainly lighten the load on the system, but the added step of collecting that waste water for use in your garden or on your lawn turns a simple preventative measure into a productive and healthy use of natural resources.
Collecting rain water in a cistern is hardly a new idea, but the increasing availability of readymade rain barrels makes the process easier than it once was. Commercially produced rain barrels come in various shapes and sizes, sometimes with drain hoses and pumps already in place. You can spend as little or as much as you desire, depending what you want the rain barrel to do and how you want it to look. Within the $50 to $250 range, you’ll find molded plastic barrels on the low end and white oak barrels on the high end.
Since 2006, the City of Chicago’s Department of Environment has been selling 55-gallon rain barrels to city residents for $40, and demand has tended to outpace the supply. This year the sale ended in September, but it’s a safe bet that the rain barrels will return to the Chicago Center for Green Technology (445 N. Sacramento Blvd., near Lake) and to Greenmaker Building Supply (2500 N. Pulaski, between Wrightwood and Altgeld) among other less convenient outlets in the spring.
Note that you’re not likely to find rain barrels at the Home Depot or Lowes garden center and the like. Check your gardening magazines for manufacturers and distributors.
Installation and Maintenance
Installing a rain barrel is a relatively straightforward procedure:
- Using a hack saw or saber saw, cut the downspout approximately 4 inches above the top of the rain barrel and remove the lower length of the downspout from the sewer standpipe if it is connected. (Note that the rain barrel may need to be placed on a concrete block(s) so that gravity can feed the collected water through a drip line attached to the barrel’s drain plug or to provide room under a spigot at the base of the barrel to fill a watering can. So factor the height of the rain barrel on its support system into your measurements before cutting the downspout.)
- Insert the downspout into an elbow joint (or other directional spout)--not the other way around--and secure the elbow joint in place.
- Plug the sewer standpipe.
- Place the rain barrel under the downspout so that water will enter through the screen on the barrel’s top. Make sure the overflow will drain onto a permeable surface--i.e., your yard, not a concrete slab.
Of course, a picture is worth a thousand words, and the “Managing Stormwater at Home” publication available from the City’s Department of Environment shows step-by-step exactly what to do. (Go to www.cityofchicago.org/environment to download a PDF version of the brochure, or contact the city at department at 312-743-9283 or
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)
Maintenance is similarly straightforward:
- Use the water in the rain barrel frequently. Note that the screen should protect the standing water from serving as a breeding ground for mosquitoes, which need at least four days of standing water to develop as larva. (If you suspect mosquitoes have found their way into your rain barrel, go ahead and drain it completely.)
- Keep your gutters, downspouts, and screen clean.
- Empty the rain barrel before temperatures drop below freezing and keep the drain valve open during the winter so that water does not collect and freeze inside the barrel. Or you can turn the barrel upside down or bring it inside for a winter’s nap until it’s needed again in the spring.
Do It Yourself
Many municipalities encourage the use of rain barrels and provide detailed instructions on making them. A simple Internet search on “make your own rain barrel” yields all sorts of useful information:
- www.cityofbremerton.com/content/sw_makeyourownrainbarrel.html
- dnr.metrokc.gov/wlr/pi/pdf/covington-rain-barrels.pdf
- www.suite101.com/article.cfm/1173/23344
- www.mde.state.md.us/assets/document/water_cons/rainbarrel.pdf
- www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/conservation/rainbarrel/make-a-rain-barrel.html
- www.hgtv.com/hgtv/gardening/article/0,,HGTV_3546_2165903,00.html
The Department of Environment has a set of detailed instruction on making a rain barrel available at www.cityofchicago.org/environment. Click the “Learn about Rain Barrels” link under “I Want To . .” and then the “Make your own rain barrel” link under “See Also . . .”
The basic materials--a polyethylene barrel, an insect screen, hose, and fittings--are estimated to cost $20 to $40. A drill, a jig saw, a hole saw, and a few hand tools are about all you’ll need.
An even cheaper alternative to a rain barrel for use on a downspout with a small volume of water (say, a downspout off the roof of your one-car garage) is an economy-sized laundry detergent container.
- Rinse the jug out thoroughly after you’ve used up the detergent.
- With a utility knife, cut a hole in the top the size and shape of the downspout. Lose the plastic cap on the hole above the detergent dispenser so that the opening serves as an overflow drain.
- Stick the container under the end of the drainpipe with the drainpipe in the newly created opening on the top.
After a rainfall, pull the container out from underneath the downspout and use the collected water for your vegetable garden. The carrying handle and spigot are built right in.
Further Reading
“Tapping the Skies: Old-fashioned rain barrels conserve water while super-charging your lawn and garden,” This Old House Magazine (April 2006): 49-50.
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