Rain Barrel Diverters

Rain barrel diverters are one of the new “green” home accessories.  With much of the country experiencing drought conditions, water is a precious commodity these days.  Collecting rain water is one of the easiest ways you can go green.

Rain barrel diverters can help to conserve one of our most precious natural commodities, water.  It won’t cost you much, you will see an immediate reduction in your water bill, and you will be helping the environment.

rain barrel diverter

Rain water collection is quite easy.  People have been collecting rain water since the dawn of time.  In many areas, rain water collection is still quite common.  If you have a municipal water supply, you should consider augmenting that water with rain water.  Water used in landscaping accounts for up to 70% of water used by most households.

There are several types of rain barrel diverters.  Most are designed to collect rain water run off from your roof-line.  If you have gutters and leaders, you can easily shorten one or more of your downspouts and place the rain water diverter under the downspout.  Then you will need to have a filter in place to screen out any detritus that may also collect on your roofline, most notable leaves.  If you simply collect rainwater in buckets outside, you will be providing mosquitoes with a fertile breeding ground.  A filtered, sealed rain barrel will help to prevent that.

If you have an architectural chain coming from your gutter there is very little you need to do to install a rain barrel.  Just remove the bottom links to the chain.

Some rain barrels are quite basic and are just water storage tanks, while many others have a hook up at the bottom of the tank for a garden hose.  This facilitates using the water you have collected for landscaping purposes.  As mentioned above, most households use more water for landscaping than all other uses combined.

rain barrel

If you are planning on collecting rain water from your roof, which will result in the largest gain of rain water, there are two instances where you should not.  If you have lead flashing or any other lead materials in your gutter system, you should replace that before considering rain water collection.  Also, if your roof shingles are made with asbestos, as may be the case in some older homes, you should not use the collected rain water for drinking purposes, although it is still acceptable for use in landscaping.  If you are unsure of your roofing composition, refer back to the inspection report you received prior to purchasing your home, or contact your landlord.  Lead and asbestos are not common.  However, if you are unsure of the composition of your roof, limit the use of your rainwater to landscaping and avoid using the water for drinking purposes or vegetable gardening.

Rain water can be collected for drinking purposes as well.  However, you will need additional purification and filtration to do this.   If you are interested in doing this, you might consider contacting your local agricultural extension office.

Much of the globe is experiencing drought conditions.  Water restrictions and rationing are occurring across the country.  One of the easiest things you can do to decrease your water consumption is to collect your rainwater and  use rain barrel diverters.