I have a well, so the only thing I pay for water for is electric to pump it. The cost of buying rain barrels and hook ups for my downspouts would take a really long time to make up.
We use to buy rain barrels but since we didn't have any good "storm". Then there really wasn't any point in having it as we would get rain one or two times a week.
I don't have water rain barrels, but I do collect rain in many different buckets or whatever could hold water; and use it on hot day to water my plant. My city has posted a certain days we can't use the water for outside, so this rain buckets came in handy!
Yes rain barrels are very good medium to store water from rain and used it for gardening. In our house we have these barrels. Water collected from them are used to watered my mom's flower and vegetables. She has a lot of tomatoes and orchids.It cheap and saves some water bill.
I think this is an excellant idea especially in states like California that have drought issues. I had discovered on the news that even with heavy rain fall it won't help California with its drought conditions because so much of the water is wasted more then half in fact. I think have rain barrels will help harness some that water that is wasted and use it. For some states of have laws that prohibits rain barrels is ridiculous IMHO its not hoarding water, its harnessing water that probably could of been wasted and not actually making to water supplies, might as well figure out a way to get it so it can be used.
Although saving money with a rain-barrel may not be an issue in many places, water quality might be an issue. Of course, areas where pollution is an issue may not be suitable for rain-barrel water, although in such areas the water may be useful for lawns or gardens, as long as the water is only applied to the ground, since most plants will somewhat filter the water through the roots. If pollution may be a concern, do not spray polluted water on the plants. For any food crops you will want to be sure to not use contaminated water.
I have a rain barrel and use it to water both my flower garden and vegetable garden. I have heard that a up 20% of your water bill can go to lawn and garden maintenance. I think that would add up over the summer months and over the years. Not only are you saving on your water bill but rain water does not contain added chemicals like city water do you are not adding contaminants to your plants which could harm them. Using a rain barrel is good for the environment the plants you are watering and your wallet.
This is a common method of water collection in my region because its a one off cost that is involved in the purchase of a rainwater container. The only variable with respect to cost is that one should invest in a good container which might not be necessarily cheap since this is a one off cost.
This is a good idea but there may be some a question of its effectiveness under certain conditions. In the areas where there tends to be frequent rainfall, this would be a very useful venture but if it's an area where there is inconsistent rainfall it would probably be a waste of time to set up this type of venture. However, wherever there is consistent rainfall, this set-up would help to conserve on the water usage and also be a form of mini irrigation system.
It seems like you will need collect a lot of water to use for gardening. Does one barrel usually cut it? I wold assume that most gardens use dozens of gallons of water per sprinkle. I would collect water like this for in home use, especially if I was living off grid, but I'd cut back on how much I used when did. I would personally buy something like one of those 25, or 50K gallon tanks, and bury it in the backyard. All the rain water can be collected in that and used whenever.
