In the not-distant future, we plant to grow a lush flower garden in the front yard and plant a yummy garden in the back. And what do gardens need? Water. So to conserve, we bought a Rain Water Solutions Rain Barrel.
First off, Rain Water Solutions is a local company, so yay! When we saw a nearby town was selling their $275 rain barrel for$85, we couldn’t resist.
Ryan picked it up and we assembled it one evening. Place the spigot here, a plug there, zip tie this, tighten that. Done!
We bought this before we installed the downspout to our gutters, so we were able to measure the exact length we wanted our downspout to be.
And because we’ll be doing a lot of plant watering, we opted to place the spigot in the higher of the two pre-drilled holes so the watering can would fit. We raised the barrel a bit more by reusing some paving stones.
This screen that came with the kit prevents debris from getting in the water.
Sure, we could have gone through the trouble to DIY a rain barrel with an old blue food-grade drum, but for $85, we thought this was a great deal. No searching for and buying separate pieces. It was all in the Rain Water Solutions rain barrel kit. Plus, it’s black, so it’s much less conspicuous than any blue barrel would be.
So there’s the lesson of the day. Check with your local county or town government to see if they offer something similar. And don’t give up if your municipalities don’t have it! Just move on to a neighboring town or county. It’s definitely worth looking into, and kudos to the town governments that give citizens this chance (while working with a local company!).
Hopefully we’ll get some showers in the next few days to fill the barrel up. Now we just need to put some plants in the ground!
What water/money saving steps have you taken lately?
