Rain Barrels Help The Environment

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Monday, 23 February 2009 02:22

During an average rainstorm in a typical home, as much as 700 gallons of rainwater may run off and simply dissipate into the ground. That amount of rainwater alone is the equivalent of almost 20 baths or nearly 60 showers. Larger buildings with correspondingly larger span roofs of course result in even more rainwater being wasted, often as much as several thousand gallons of rainwater at a time.

Since water is an ever decreasing precious resource, it only makes sense to look into the many benefits that rain barrels can offer you as well as the environment. Besides being wasted, this rainwater also enters the storm drains through the ground where it can deposit various toxic materials and other pollutants, causing further harm to the environment.

Rain barrels then serve an important function, and that is to collect and store all the rainwater that would have otherwise been wasted, so you can put it to good use. Rain barrels can be as simple as large receptacles that the rain water from your roof and other surfaces in your property can run off into. In a good rainstorm, rain barrels can collect more than 200 gallons of rain water, so you can imagine that they can be filled quite rapidly. This rainwater can then be used as an irrigation source for your lawn or garden, or can be used for such tasks as washing your car or windows. Not only will this lessen the amount of water that is wasted, it will also reduce the amount of pollutants that enter the local ground water supply and reduce your dependence on the local water provider in your area.

Your options for rain barrels range from commercially available rain barrels to rain barrels made out of materials that can be found around the home or in a typical garden supply store. If you want the convenience and ease of use of built in connectors for faucets or hoses, or for linking up to other rain barrels, you may want to go for commercially available ones. Of course you can also choose to simply build your own rain barrels...which may take some time and workÂ...but can be quite a bit cheaper than buying ready made rain barrels. Regardless of what type of rain barrels you plan to install, it is important to place them where they will collect the maximum amount of rainwater possible.

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