I shared these pics in herb gardening, but thought others would like to see how I solved some of my watering problems. We have a shallow well and have to haul water often. My hubby freaks out when I drag out the hose. So...he helped me with the rain gardening barrels. Still have to "haul" water in watering cans, though!
The pump on the top of this one, is just for show. There is a spigot at the bottom.
This is the newest rain barrel. It collects rain from garden shed. It actually has a working pump on top. I ordered it from Lee Valley. It still has the "whiskey" smell. I have to be careful what plants I water with it.
This message was edited Oct 11, 2006 9:42 AM
I see you have the pretty decorative ones! Very nice!
What do you do when the barrels over flow? Did you do anything beneath them to channel water from the buildings? I need to do that!
I bought $8 dark plastic ones from a barn lot. Hubby picked me up a pump from Tractor Supply and we hooked hoses to it. I throw the pump in the rain barrels and run the hose to what I want to water. Someone has to watch so the pump doesn't run dry and you still have to drag the hoses but I think it's better than pumping or scooping the water then having to drag it all over. We did that before the pump. LOL
We drilled a hole in the top for overflow. Doesn't much, as I use it often! Great idea about the pump/hose. I'll have to think about that.
I rigged up two rain barrels this year, one on each side of the garage. I cannot believe how much water is collected from even a light rain. I put overflow holes, with spigot so that I can attach hoses and direct this extra water wherever I want. I think next year I will get a couple of more barrels to take the overflow. I love having this rainwater.
How do you keep mosquitoes out of your rain barrels? I would love to start saving rain in barrels but I'm wondering about the mosquito problem.
Lin
You can use mosquito dunks which are easy to find at hardware stores and specialty stores too.
They aren't open on the top, We sealed the gutterring around the opening in the barrel. I'm sure mosquitoes could get in, but it isn't like an invitation, like a bird bath etc.
I just remembered reading that some people with open top barrels put some little fish in there to eat the larvae.
A 71 year old man here was just diagnosed with West Nile Virus. Apparently the critters are breeding in the wooded area by his home.
I'd thought about using little comets for mosquito control -- I've used them very successfully in bird baths -- but I can't help wondering whether it's a healthy environment for them -- sudden influxes of rainwater, with whatever it flushes off the roof, who knows what the pH is. I use dunks and they seem to work well.
keep it covered like I do with my tank.
Please explain your tank? Where is the water coming from that goes into there. I don't see any gutters. LOL Is the cord hanging out of there for a pump or something else? Last, how much water does that hold? It looks huge, like 100 gallons or better. It looks like a great tank with the lid and also the spout.
The gutters are running into a collection area above and i have screened the water to run down into the tank with a 1" diameter water line. this is the same tank I use in the summer for grey water and rain water in the fall and spring. I shut it down for the winter. Don't want the pump to freeze. It is a 300 gallon tank. That will irrigate 1/3 of my beds completely for a week. I hook the pump to a hose that is hooked to a sprinkler. The soakers get plugged with the sediment and bacterial, algae, accumulations.
Looks very sophisticated to me. Where did you get this tank? Are they for sale for this purpose, or did you invent this yourself? Wow!
Very impressive and well thought out Soferdig!
I lost my well this last summer for over 2 months and had to come up with a source of water. This was my invention. These are sold here for lots of things.
