Roof rainwater for your garden — non-potable, ornamental garden and lawn use
Practical rain barrel guides for your garden — non-potable, ornamental garden and lawn use only.
How Much Rain Does It Take to Fill a 55-Gallon Barrel? It takes only about 0.09 inches of rain on a 1,000 square foot roof to fill a 55-gallon barrel. In other words, a light shower that barely wets the pavement can fill your barrel — as long as your gutters are clean and the […]
A rain barrel saves a little money, slowly. A typical 55-gallon barrel used weekly in the growing season saves about 1,000 to 1,500 gallons a year, which at the average US water price of about 1.5 cents per gallon is about 15 to 25 dollars a year. A barrel that costs 80 dollars therefore takes […]
Water the garden with a rain barrel by raising the barrel 18 to 24 inches on a stand, running a soaker hose from the spigot to the bed, and letting gravity do the work. The water flows slowly at soil level, straight to the roots, with no pump, no electricity, and no sprinkler. A watering […]
A full 55-gallon rain barrel lasts about one deep watering of a 200 square foot ornamental bed, or about two to three light waterings of the same bed. In days, that means one barrel lasts one to three days of regular watering in summer, depending on how big your beds are and how much water […]
Texas encourages rainwater harvesting, and collecting rainwater from your own roof for non-potable garden use is generally allowed in Texas, with conditions set by state law, local city ordinances, and your homeowners association. That is the short answer, but it is not the whole answer: the details depend on where you live in Texas, how […]
For most homes, start with one 55-gallon barrel, and add a second if your roof is over 1,000 sq ft or you water ornamental beds often. One barrel catches the first 55 gallons of a storm; a 1,000 sq ft roof produces about 530 gallons from a single inch of rain, so even three linked […]