questions about rain barrels

[flowerseverywhere]

I am curious about rain barrels. Do you use them year round if you live in a freezing climate in the winter? Could you use the water as a drinking and cooking source, or only for watering, cleaning etc.
How do you prevent them from becoming mosquito breeding pools?

If you have one, are you happy with it? Do you need to buy a commercial one or are there homemade ones that work well?

[happystuff]

I have one I purchased and 2 homemade. I will confess that they are not properly set up at this point. One is positioned under a corner of the front porch which does not drain well during rainstorms, so it is working great! The other two have come in handy, but have yet to be positioned under a gutter.

During the winter months, I empy them and turn them upside down. Once they are positioned under gutters, I just may empty them but leave them in place.... have to think on that one.

The purchased one comes with a piece of screening to go over the top. This is supposed to help keep out the bugs, leaves, etc. I am going to get some gauze like material to do the same for the other two.

I use the water for outdoor uses only at this point. Trying to get dh to use the water for washing cars,etc., but so far - no luck.

I like mine alot and will be even happier once I get the last two positioned.

[Rosemary]

Rainbarrel water is *not* potable, and it is not recommended for use on edible crops, at least if it comes off an asphalt-based roof.
We use ours for landscape trees.

We live in Minnesota. Last weekend, we detached the rainbarrel from the gutter and placed it upside-down on the ground. We generally do this, but last year had a really early freeze and it still had water in it. We routed the gutters around it with some flexible attachments and it stayed a huge chunk of ice until mid-April. I don't recommend this, as it could damage the fittings on the rainbarrel.

I made our rainbarrel at a workshop in the area at which we only paid for parts, but since that time, commercial rainbarrels have become much less costly. We paid $50 for parts and now our city sells rainbarrels for that same amount each spring. When I called around looking for free barrels, most places that had empty barrels were charging about $50 for them, and they weren't clean, but had residue from various food sources in them.

[IshbelRobertson]

We have 5 rain waterbutts in and around our garden. Two are fed directly from the guttering on the roof edges. We have no great shortage of rain in the UK, but I feel it is more ecologically sound to use the rainwater than mains tapwater! I use the water from the butts on flower beds, not edible plants.

[Gardenarian]

Hi - It doesn't freeze where I live, so I can't address that. We get rain about 6 months a year here, and I do use the rainbarrel water on my vegetables and fruits, as well as in my small pond. The first time it rains I just direct the water onto the lawn/meadow area, as that washes off any accumulated gunk from the roof - after that I feel the water is pretty clean.

You can't drink or cook with it (unless you had some heavy-duty filtering/sanitation equipment) but certainly you could use it for some cleaning. Not laundry or dishes, but washing windows, cars, floors would probably be okay.

I know some people have underground cisterns where they keep water for drinking. (Drinking water should be stored underground, where the temp stays around 55 degrees.) I wouldn't feel comfortable drinking the water off my roof.

If you buy a rainbarrel it should come with a screen to keep the mosquitoes out. If you make your own, you can just use a piece of regular screen. It's pretty easy to make a rainbarrel (google for lots of instructions.) We have one home-made and one pretty one for the front of the house.

[flowerseverywhere]

thanks for all the information. I had no idea you could not drink the water. That changes a lot of my thinking. My flower beds are largely perennial, I don't water them except for a few spot annuals in the early spring when they are getting established. I am guessing it would be a much more useful thing where rain is much more scarce.

[jp1]

Yes, if your roof is standard asphalt you can't drink it and you shouldn't put it on food plants. Little bits of the roof end up in the water so the petroleum that went into making the roof ends up in the water. I suppose if you have metal, or possibly wood roofs this wouldn't be a problem?

[Nella]

I'd second everything said here about rain barrel water not being potable water, emptying the barrel before the first hard freeze, etc. Just want to address a couple of things.

1) There is a product, I think called a "dunk," which is a donut looking hard ring of chemicals that you simply put in the water. It prohibits the hatching of any eggs which insects might lay in the water, including mosquitos. I believe that this definitely makes the water undrinkable or unusable for food producing plants. In areas where West Nile is an issue, it's important to use one. (I had a close friend die from West Nile, so it's an issue close to my heart.)

2) I would also recommend that whether you buy or make a rain barrel, that you be sure it is childproof. Curious little ones who really want to know what's in that big interesting looking barrel need to be kept out with a secure lid. Preferrably something more than just a screen that could be easily lifted off. And remember, a locked gate doesn't mean a willy kid can't get into your yard. Failing to take proper safety precaustions could result in the tragic consequence of child drownings.

All that said, I've loved having my rain barrel, especially in the dry climate in which I live.