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YouTubeSince someone decided that my downspouts would be an easy way to score a 40, Im looking at setting up some rain barrells to help catch some water to help irrigate for gardening etc.. Anyone use em or have any experience to share?
I will most likely buy from here:
http://www.rainbrothers.com/
Right here in columbus
Columbus Underground Messageboard » General Columbus Discussion » Q&A
Rain Barrels- Anyone use em?
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dnm
Merion Village
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Posted 4 years ago # -
Andrew Hall
Dennison Place (The Circles)
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Chris @ Restoration Bicyle told me he was planning on making and selling these over the winter. I can't find his exact contact, but you could use the form on the site :
http://www.restorationbicycle.com/contact
A.
Posted 4 years ago # -
HeySquare
German Village
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One of the watershed groups-- I can't remember which-- has a pilot project using these in Columbus. Seems pretty sensible... helps prevent excess runoff, and provides water for irrigation. It doesn't take much rain to fill them up though, so make sure it's not placed directly against the foundation of the house, or that you've made adequate provision so that if the barrel overflows, you aren't getting a ton of water at the foundation of the house.
Posted 4 years ago # -
dnm
Merion Village
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I did some looking around, it seems you can buy discounted barrells, but only if you live within the Olentangy watershed, and go to a 8 hour class. Even if I did live within the boundries, I think Id still just pay retail, and read online about water conservation than sit through an 8 hour class
Posted 4 years ago # -
LauraA
LaLaland
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Andrew Hall wrote Chris @ Restoration Bicyle told me he was planning on making and selling these over the winter. I can't find his exact contact, but you could use the form on the site :
http://www.restorationbicycle.com/contact
A.
here is his website for rain barrels. http://www.littlesquarefarm.com
you can also pick them up at backyard experience in clintonville. he is a great guy and i encourage you to buy from him. he does great things for the community and sustainability.
Posted 4 years ago # -
Brewmaster
Portland, OR
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If that doesn't work out, try McMaster-Carr. They make Home Depot look like the hardware section at Giant Eagle.
Posted 4 years ago # -
LauraA
LaLaland
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http://www.littlesquarefarm.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1
it's kinda hidden.
Posted 4 years ago # -
Motorist
The Trots
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Did anyone end up installing a rain barrel at their home? I'm thinking about getting one. My house only has one downspout and every time it rains, the ground under the downspout gets saturated and weeps into the basement. This gets the basement wet and makes it smell kind of nasty. I'm thinking I can use a rain barrel with a soaker hose on the overflow to mitigate the moisture in the basement and water the few plants I have in my backyard in the meantime.
For the sake of convenience, I'm probably going to buy one from Rain Brothers. I'm not afraid of a little DIY but i don't have the time to track down all the materials and build it myself. Anyone have experience with their barrels?
For those of you who have barrels, do you have to have it on a stand? How high do you have it?
Posted 3 years ago # -
SusanB
Hungarian Village, Columbus' fastest growing Gayborhood!
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We put 2 of them up at our house last year and they were a great supplemental watering system for our garden. We had a rather serious garden, taking up at least 1/2 of our backyard. If you have a small garden you might be able to use just the barrels for all of your garden watering needs. They do need to be maintained (you can't let them overflow if they are next to the house, and you have to shut them down and drain for the winter) but other than that they are wonderful and really helped keep our H2O bill a lot lower than the summer before. We attached a soaker house, ran it through the garden and made our own irrigation system with them. Ours are not on a stand, but we built the system ourselves and designed them to work on the ground.
Posted 3 years ago # -
alexs
Limestone bluffs of the Scioto
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I used to watch a property in Knox County, a cabin with no running water, and I could gather and store 200+ gallons of rainwater from the roof. However I cannot get permission from my family to do that here at home :/
It makes perfect sense to use them instead of sending your runoff to a sewer overflow while paying to pour chlorinated water on your garden. Plus, if the top is open you can sink and fill a watering can in a second or two instead of standing with a hose and waiting.
I did a "downspout disconnect" (google that) here at home, so water from the back roof goes to the back garden instead of the curb.
FLOW is active in promoting and installing rain barrels:
Posted 3 years ago # -
Rockmastermike
CORNspiracy HQ
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I also redirected my downspouts into a garden. The water soaks into the tilled soil instead of just running off the hard-packed ground. So, really, the plant beds are a big rain barrel.
I was considering this year adding a catch bucket or barrel to the system to better control distribution, but decided that I would rather move than start a garden this year.
my plan was to use a plastic container of some kind and drill a hole and fit it with a grommet, valve, and hose tap so I could simply plug a drip-hose onto it and drip it wherever I wanted it.
Maybe at my new place I will do that.
edit: reading this makes me realize I cannot write until I've had more time for the coffee to work.Posted 3 years ago # -
AnneD
Taco-Nazo-Land
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We have one rain barrel from the FLOW rain barrel program (the class was much shorter than 8 hours!) and one from Little Square Farm (purchased at Backyard Experience in Clintonville.) Both of them are raised up on cinder blocks.
They're the bomb. They don't have the fastest rate of flow, so I keep a bucket nearby and let it fill while I putter in the garden. We're still working on an actual irrigation system for the garden, but in the meantime just watering it from the rain barrels works just fine.
Posted 3 years ago # -
alexs
Limestone bluffs of the Scioto
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By the way, snaps for FLOW, they won a recent competition which will manage runoff at the UU church on Weisheimer:
http://www.rivernetwork.org/news/river-network-millercoors-watershed-protection-grant-contest
Posted 3 years ago #
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