Rain, don’t go away…

…but if you do we are ready.

It has been raining a lot this spring…but Cincinnati usually gets very dry during summer. Finally we got one of our new 275 gallon rain collectors in place…just in time for a huge storm in the middle of the night. It rained so much that the tank is 3/4 full! This tank is collecting water from just one side of the house; we put the 50 gallon rain barrel beside the front porch to catch runoff there (bonus: no more water pooling under the porch and seeping into the basement!) and have another 275 gallon tank for the other side of the house.

To install the tank Josh piled gravel and earth about a foot or two high so that as the tank settles (it will be HEAVY when it is full) it won’t sink into the ground. We also decided to put it about 4 feet out from the house just to keep it away  from the foundation. The tank sits about 6 feet above the highest garden beds (our back yard slopes away from the house) so gravity provides enough pressure to use a 100 foot garden hose.

How to install a rain barrel:

1. choose your location…this should be at a downspout
2. you may want to mound up earth to account for settling
3. if necessary put the barrel on concrete blocks or platform so that gravity works in your favor
4. connect your downspout to the barrel
5. optional: connect a garden hose to the barrel’s spigot
6. do a rain dance

Make sure that the top opening of your rain barrel has screen across it so that mosquitos don’t use it as a nursery. Buy a rain barrel that already has a spigot and an overflow unless you are into DIY for the sake of DIY; you won’t save much money buying unfinished barrels and then doing the work yourself (unless you get a really GOOD deal on food-grade plastic tanks in which case – DIY!).

One more note: plants prefer rainwater to chlorinated city water. Rain barrels aren’t just about conservation they are about quality produce.