Welcome to the Pathway to Water Quality

Rain Barrels

What is a Rain Barrel?

If you're are looking for ways to save on your water bill, do something good for the environment by conserving water, and ensure that your plants, garden or landscape don't suffer in the next dry spell, consider an old-fashioned solution: rain water harvested from a rain barrel. Remember the rain barrel? It is a container used to collect and store rain water that is usually placed below the downspout of a roof gutter.

Benefits of Using a Rain Barrel

An obvious reason to harvest rainwater is to save money. According to Master Gardener Paul James, the average resident uses 40 percent of household water in the yard during the summer.A rain barrel can minimize the need for water from your city utility or well by capturing rain water to use for your plants. This can be especially helpful during the hot and often dry summer months when the demand for water is at its highest. Dependingon the size of your house and the amount of rainfall in your area, you can collect a substantial amount of rainwater with a simple system. This extra water can have a significant impact on your water bill.

But, perhaps the best reason to use rain water collected from a barrel is the benefit to the environment. Rain water is fresh, soft and low in salt and chlorine - a great way to nurish the landscape. Even if you live in a rural area and have your own well, the fact that rainwater is naturally soft may be enough to justify harvesting rainwater. Even better, the barrel captures water, preventing it from carrying soil and polluntants across the ground (watershed) into the sewer where it impacts everyone's water supply.

Web Links to Rain Barrel Information

• PWQ Rain Barrel Guide

This is not an endorsement for any product or Web site listed below.

• Rain Gardens: University of Wisconsin Extension
  
  
  • A household way to improve water quality in your community
    A basic introduction providing information on how rain gardens help protect water quality, and general step-by-step instructions on how to build a rain garden in your yard.
    
    
  • A how-to manual for homeowners
    A detailed manual that covers rain garden sizing and site, construction details and planting and maintenance. Includes 11 conceptual planting designs with plant species lists.
    
    
• Rain Barrel Guide
• Make Your Own Rain Barrel
• Green Culture: Rain Barrels - background, water quality, mosquito screens, etc.
  
• Lake Superior|Duluth Streams.Org: Rain Barrels: Useful Runoff Solutions
  
• How to Build or Make a Rain Barrel / How to Make a Rain Barrel
  
• Center for Watershed Protection: How to Build and Install a Rain Barrel
  
• Where to Buy a Rain Barrel and Accessories
  Green Culture Water Conservation Rain Barrels and Accessories
• Urban Garden Center
• Envirolet.com
• Environmentally Friendly Lawn & Garden Supplies

If you have other good Web site resources on rain barrels you would like to share, please email the PWQ webmaster.