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Help protect the environment by buying rain barrels
Rain water that is typically lost to runoff, streams or sewers can be collected from your roof and stored in rain barrels. Rain barrels generally consist of a 55 gallon drum, a vinyl hose, PVC couplings and a screen grate. They can be placed below the gutter down spot of your home and collect water during the rains.
Rain barrels are a good way to harvest and conserve rain water. Using rain barrels serves the twin objective of reducing the cost of water usage and also helping during shortage of water. When used correctly the use of rain barrels can provide you with a barrel full of water in a good season. Rain water collected on your roof can be collected in a rain barrel and put to good use. The collected rain water can be employed in maintaining your garden and flowers or washing cars or windows. In a given year one can save up water enough to last one whole summer depending on the number of rain barrels that are put to use. A typical rain barrel can save close to 1,300 gallons of water during the peak summer months.
The benefits of using rain barrels not only include the cost cutting on water expenditure. The water collected is soft water and is excellent for garden use. Rain water is also very good for washing cars since it contains no dissolved minerals like chlorine, calcium or lime. The use of rain barrels is apposite in places where a convenient spout is not located. In dry periods when water is in short supply, rain barrels make for a good provision of water. The environmental benefit of using rain barrels is undeniable as they efficiently conserve rain water which is the most easily available sources of natural water.
The rain barrels should be kept securely covered to prevent the hazard of children or pets falling into it. The water in the rain barrels should not be used for indoor purposes like cooking, drinking or bathing. If a moss killer or some other spray has been used on the roof then a couple of initial rainfalls should not be collected. The rain barrels should be kept a little elevated to make the spigot easily accessible. For more hoarding ability, more than one barrel can be used. They can be joint together to be able to hold more rain water.
Rain barrels can be constructed at home but the equipments require technical skills besides being expensive. It is a time consuming process and it is important to get all the parts right to make the rain barrel effective. Contrastingly, it is easier to buy ready made rain barrels as they are readily available and spares one the time and energy required to make one.