Are Rain Barrels worth it?

Rain Man · 08-17-2009, 08:13 AM

I read an interesting article online (again...) that mentioned how great rain barrels are for capturing water and how efficient they are. I couldn't help but think that while they facilitate some efficiency and offer a "second use" if you have it, they really aren't very practical. What do you guys think?

Micbow · 09-16-2009, 01:10 PM

Hi Rainman

I've got two, 200 litre Rain Barrels that are connected in series to just one downpipe. Over the course of a year they have about 7,000 litres of Rainwater go through them. This downpipe was the last one on my house that I wasn't harvesting rainwater from and directing water to my much larger rainwater tanks.

You are right, rain barrels are a secondary method of harvesting rainwater. It is much preferable to harvest rainwater in larger tanks for obvious reasons but they are great backup for downpipes that you may not be able to be connected to a larger tank.

It's just a case of horses for courses. Just remember it is possible direct water from the overflow of you rain barrels (or even larger tanks for that matter) to direct water to areas of your garden that need it the most.

Where I live every drop counts..........