How A Rain Barrel Saves You Water & Money
Around the home, there are many things we can do to mitigate the effects of climate change, save precious resources and save some cash too! Here is How A Rain Barrel Saves You Water & Money.
Do you garden? I don't have the best green thumb but I am trying! We put a rain barrel in the backyard a few years ago to help reduce flooding from severe and intense thunderstorms that are far too common now.
Rain barrels and water tanks are incredibly easy to set up and use, and there are plenty of good reasons to use one.
Our rain barrel can collect runoff during storms and rain, which I use on my lawn and garden, dramatically reducing the amount of water I use from my home water line during the summer months.
Even if you don’t have the greenest thumb, you can help your plants, shrubs, trees, and grass grow better by watering with collected rainwater. Plants love natural rainwater that isn’t chlorinated or fluoridated like municipal water normally is, so collected rainwater is the best choice for watering your plants.
You can also help minimize direct runoff. Direct runoff refers to the dramatic surface runoff of water that floods into sewers during rainy and snowy weather. In industrialized areas, all the concrete, houses, and other impermeable surfaces keep the rainwater from soaking into the ground where it lands, as it normally would.
When the water is, instead, flooding into the sewage system, the system can overload, resulting in major problems such as flooding downstream and leakages at local sewage treatment plants. By collecting the rainwater that lands on your roof, you can do your part to minimize these problems. when rain runs along roofs, streets, and cars, it takes all those pollutants with it, right into the natural waterways and drinking water treatment sites, since the soil that would otherwise soak it up is covered. By collecting rainwater, you can prevent some pollution of the waterways around your home.
If you live in a city, chances are likely that you have to pay for your water usage, which makes rain barrels one great option for conserving water and saving money.
With hundreds of gallons of rainwater from a single rainfall, you can use that water for your lawn and garden! So good!!