Make Your Own Rain Drum & Re-Use Water

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Make Your Own Rain Drum & Re-Use Water

Submitted by: anonymous 03/05/2009 4:34 PM

Take a 55 gallon plastic drum barrel and place it at the bottom of each down spout you have on your house, let it catch the rain water and use it to water your plants and flowers outside during the summer, this will reduce your water bill and help the environment.

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Comments:

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The general subject is called "rain harvesting" and there are a lot of different ways to catch rain and store it. Believe it or not there are some municipalities where you cannot catch the rain that falls on your own home. I can just see the cop at the door ready to write you up for a rain water violation.

Posted by bobbquackenbush on March 14, 2009 11:19 PM

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My father-in-law did this and added a faucet near the bottom. It worked great!

Posted by Diane on March 30, 2009 9:10 PM

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I thought this was going to tell how to make your own rain drum. It says nothing of the sort.

Posted by anonymous on April 16, 2009 3:29 PM

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I bought one of those large plastic trash cans at the dollar store and use it to catch the rain water.

Posted by anonymous on April 16, 2009 3:40 PM

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for a how to on making your own rain drum, see this epa brochure:
http://www.epa.gov/nps/toolbox/other/KSMO_buildarainbarrel.pdf

the key is making sure you compensate for overflow so when the drum is full it doesn't just spill out, it should be covered to keep mosquitos out and I put a spout on mine so I can drain it easily.

Posted by anonymous on April 16, 2009 4:47 PM

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Illegal in Colorado.

Posted by anonymous on April 16, 2009 4:58 PM

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Where does it state that a rain barrel is illegal in Colorado?

Posted by Brenda in Simla, CO on April 17, 2009 1:28 PM

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My grandfather did this back in the early fifties. However, the drum was metal and was mounted on a stand about ten feet high and collected rain with a large tin funnel and the water was gravity fed into a 4x6 tin building that served as a solar heated shower. It was so before it's time and I still remember taking showers in it just for fun. I plan on building my own version someday soon.

Posted by Rick H. on April 21, 2009 11:00 AM

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I grew up with this system and it worked fine in the 40`s and 50`s. Now you have a very large amount of sand on shingles to come off every rain, what is the recommended solution for that?

Posted by Judy N. July 9, 2009 3:23 PM on July 09, 2009 3:23 PM

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