RAIN BARRELS

What is a Rain Barrel?
A rain barrel is an age-old system that collects and stores rainwater from your roof that
would otherwise be lost to runoff and diverted to combined sewer/storm drains and streams.  Usually a rain barrel is composed of a 55 gallon drum (although they come much larger if needed) , a vinyl hose, PVC couplings, a screen grate to keep debris and insects out, and other easy-to-find items. A rain barrel is relatively simple and inexpensive to construct and can sit conveniently under any residential gutter down spout.  Or, we carry many varieties of rain barrels at MOG (ranging from $89-$239 per barrel), and would be glad to help you install your very own rain barrel.

What are the advantages of a Rain Barrel?
Lawn and garden watering make up nearly 40% of total household water use
during the summer. A rain barrel collects water and stores it for when you need
it most -- during periods of drought -- to water plants, wash your car, or to top a
swimming pool. It provides an ample supply of free "soft water" to homeowners,
containing no chlorine, fluorine, lime or calcium making it ideal for gardens, flower
pots, and car and window washing. A rain barrel will save most homeowners about 1,300 gallons of water during the peak summer months. Saving water not only helps protect the environment, it saves you money and energy (decreased demand for treated tap water). Diverting water from storm drains also decreases the impact of runoff to streams. Therefore, a rain barrel is an easy way for you to have a consistent supply of clean, fresh water for outdoor use, FREE.  Every square foot of your roof captures more than ½ gallon of rain water during a 1” rain, so they fill very quickly.  Sometimes, you may need two or more barrels connected to the same downspout to take advantage of all your rain water.

How do I use my Rain Barrel?
Simply attach your rain barrel to a drip hose and weave that drip hose through your gardens so that you can slowly water your plants whenever they need it most.  Rain barrels work best when the are elevated by a pad of at least 12” high of block, rock or wood that will firmly hold the barrel in an elevated position to improve the gravity fed action of the rain barrel.  The higher the barrel is elevated, the further the hose can reach from the barrel with adequate water pressure.  Many residence will submerse water pumps into their rain barrel so that they can water there lawn with a sprinkler using purely rain water.  Typically, all rain barrels should be drained in the winter time to prevent expansion and cracking of the barrels.  Rain barrels can be easily diverted around your barrel in the winter with an 18” straight section of downspout that would dump the water in front of your barrel, rather than in the barrel.  Rain barrels can be turned upside down in the winter to keep water out, or, simply leave the faucet at the base open, so that water drips out of the barrel.

Do Rain Barrels attract mosquitoes?
While most areas of standing water do attract mosquitoes, most rain barrels contain a screened lid that keep mosquitoes out.  If mosquitoes are a problem for your homemade rain barrel, you can drop one mosquitoes dunk in your barrel to control mosquitoes larvae for 1 month.  These mosquito dunks contain the bacteria, Bacillus thuringiensis  subspecies israelensis, which are slowly released from the dunk to control mosquito larvae, naturally.  MOG carries these and other safe and natural pest control products.