Rain Barrels make collecting rainwater one of the easiest things you can do to reduce water consumption.  While you shouldn’t collect rainwater for drinking purposes, rainwater is acceptable for use in your landscaping and gardening endeavors.

There are many different types of rain barrels available.  You can even resort to using old garbage cans or buckets.  But these are not ideal.  Most commercially available rain barrels have several features that make them much more desirable and easy to use than that old garbage can you have standing around.  And we all know, if it’s easier to use you are more likely to use it.  Since water conservation is the name of the game these days…

Today we will be reviewing the Algreen 81001 Cascata Rain Barrels Water Collection and Storage System in the 65 Gallons size.  The 81001 is twenty pounds, 25 inches wide and 43 inches tall. It is made from molded plastic that won’t crack, chip, or fade.  It is double walled for extra strength and durability.  It comes with a corrosion proof screen guard and removable crown planter, meaning you can put a plant on top so it doesn’t just look like an empty pot.  And it has brass spigot and hook to hang your garden hose.

Personally, I would not consider a rain barrel that didn’t have a spigot and hose attachment at the bottom.  This makes getting to your collected rainwater so much easier.  Instead of having to slop around in your rain barrel (and this gets quite messy once you’re near the bottom of the barrel, not to mention the waste from all the spillage) you can simply flip the spigot and collect water into a watering can, or use a hose to water your plants directly from the barrel.

This unit is really attractive.  In fact, it is one of the most attractive rain barrels out there.  It looks like a large terra cotta planter and you can put in a beautiful flowering plant.  It is also very easy to assemble.

I did not mention the hose that comes with it above when I was describing the product.  That is because is should be replaced.

And my one negative is that, while it has an overflow spout, this does not come with a hose. Even if there was a hose available the spigot is not large enough to handle a heavy downpour and the resultant overflow. This is easily remedied however, by using a rain barrel diverter.

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Overall, this is a really beautiful and well made product.  I highly recommend the Algreen 81001 rain barrel as one of the better rain barrels on the market today.

Review: Cascata Rain Barrels is a post from: Rain Barrels and Rain Barrel Diverters

A Rain Barrel Diverter can help to collect water. Water is a precious commodity and many of us are facing water restrictions, but even if you’re living in an area that is not restricting water usage, collecting rainwater for use in your garden is a good thing to do. Rain barrel diverter kits can help you to do this easily. Simply attach the rain water diverter to your downspout and collect the rain water in your rain barrel.

What most people don’t know is that you can collect an awful lot of water just by collecting what falls on your roof. For example, a roof top that is 20 feet by 50 feet, or 1,000 square feet in total area can yield 600 gallons with only one inch of rain. That’s a lot of water.

Most rain barrels hold around 60 gallons. So if you live in an area where there is significant rainfall, a rain barrel diverter kit is a must. These diverters do just that, they divert some of the flow of water so that your rain barrel doesn’t overflow. There are two main types of these instruments available today. The first one allows you to manually redirect the flow of water. Once your rain barrel is full, you simply flip a switch on the diverter and this allows the water to run down another arm of the diverter, as it would down a normal downspout. This type of rain barrel diverter is rather inexpensive and is an easy solution. However, since the switch must be manually flipped in order to redirect the flow of water, someone must be there to flip the switch, and that someone will have to get wet.

rain barrel diverter kit

The other type of rain barrel diverter uses pressure to divert water from the rain barrel once the barrel is full. The are slightly more expensive, but the obvious advantage is that the diversion is automated so there is no need to go outside and flip the switch manually. This means that you won’t have any splash out from your rain barrel, and the waste water will flow through your downspout as it was originally designed to do.

Up to 70% of our water is used for landscaping purposes. Rain water collection is an easy way to reduce our consumption of water. A rain barrel diverter kit will help you to have a more efficient rain water collection system for a small investment.

Rain Barrel Diverter Kits is a post from: Rain Barrels and Rain Barrel Diverters