Revisiting Rain Barrel

November 17, 2012

January 1, 2013

In mid-November I had aspirations of winterizing our rainwater barrel in advance of the winter snows. Early on, I had it in my mind to (possibly)  disconnect the rain barrel from the gutter downspout during the winter months.

The thought was to attach an additional extender (or simply reconnect the downspout using a coupling) to divert water away from the home's foundation. After doing some preliminary online research, including the quick read How to Winterize a Rain Barrel on eHow.com, and wandering the local hardware store for just the right materials, I went with a less complicated option.

I drained the barrel of water that had remained after the fall plants had been brought indoor, and left the faucet in the "on" position. The next steps was to... leave it alone. Once the melt begins in a few months, I'll reinspect to insure that the flow guide (not pictured above) leads away from he foundation, but there is really no additional other snow water at the base than would be present had we gone through the more extensive process. I am anticipating needing to replace the mesh at the opening, but otherwise, we should be good-to-go in late-May or early June.

This being our first winter with a rain barrel, we'll see how this minimalist approach to winterization works out.

Rain Barrel? Installed!

It actually rained and actually worked!

A few years ago, my family and I participated in a $15 dollar clinic at the Rochester Museum and Science Center, and in coordination with the Monroe County Stormwater Coalition (the organization responsible for the  Be an H2O Hero campaign), that resulted in our leaving with all of the components for installing a rain barrel, and hearts full of motivation. Each of the past few years, I have thought about how we should install this rain barrel which had been taking up space in the shed since I brought it home. I guess we never got around to it. For me, it was something of a risk, as I'm not very handy, but a very willing assistant to my much brighter wife.

As part of my summer of activities, yesterday morning, I (with only a small assist from my wife) finally installed our rain barrel!

If you think this is unkempt you should have seen it before.

After surveying the gutter downspouts to determine the best location for the rain barrel, I decided upon a corner in the back of the house directly off of a patio. This area of our yard (despite being visible from the front of the house), has been among the least "manicured" of our yard, generally being left to grow over with whatever seeds or plants happen to take root. The first order of business was clearing out the area for the barrel. I have been systemically weeding (and re weeding) sections of the yard all summer, so it was time to make this happen...

Long neglected, this area cleans up nicely.

Once cleared, I set up a pad on which to place the barrel, with some old cinder blocks I had been using to keep vines at bay around our vegetable garden. Though I would have liked to have more elevation, the height does leave enough room to place a watering pitcher below and ultimately I will set up a hose so that the collected rain can be use to water the gardens.

Ready for action!

I was a little nervous about cutting away at our downspout, but following the rule of "measure twice, cut once," was able to make the cut in such a way that 1) the plastic replacement downspout could be fed directly into the water barrel, and 2) the existing downspout could be set aside for eventual reattachment.

As evidenced by the picture at the top of this post, despite our summer drought, we were fortunate to actually have a downpour a few hours after we completed the installation. The rain actually filled the barrel to capacity (with quite a bit using the overflow PVC piping to the left).

Next up, maybe I'll eventually achieve my dream of installing a chicken coop!

World Water Day 2009

You may have missed it, but Sunday, March 22 was World Water Day. The day, designated by the United Nations, is intended to focus attention on the importance of freshwater and advocating for the sustainable management of freshwater resources.

The theme for World Water Day 2009 is "Shared Water - Shared Opportunities". "Special focus will be placed on transboundary waters. Nurturing the opportunities for cooperation in transboundary water management can help build mutual respect, understanding and trust among countries and promote peace, security and sustainable economic growth."

More than 1 billion people on the planet don't have access to clean drinking water. Non-profit group charity: water funds clean water solutions like shallow wells, deep wells, rainwater harvesting systems, and spring protections to provide people in need with clean and safe drinking water.

The video posted above, prepared by charity: water to promote World Water Day, features the well-drilling work funded by the organization in the Central African Republic. It was directed by Simon Willows, and includes the track "Time Bomb" by Beck.

Breathe in, breathe out… YOU AND I ARE ALIVE!