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Conserving Water with Rain Barrels
Rain barrels, which are sometimes called rainwater tanks, are yet another way we can help save the environment by saving us both money and energy. Most of us live in climates where we have different seasons, some which bring lots of rain while others bring us dry spells. During these dry spells, a lot of household water is used for landscaping or watering the lawn or garden. Rain barrels can help us become more eco-friendly by allowing us a means to save water for when it's needed. Rain barrels are used to collect and store rain water runoff from rain gutters and rooftops and, often, maintain the harvested rain.
Rain barrels are used to help us reduce the amount of water we use from within our home by allowing us to store the rain water for a later time when it's needed. The stored water in the rain barrels can be used for numerous reasons including flushing toilets, agriculture, watering gardens, in washing machines, for washing cars and even for drinking water, when proper maintenance has been applied to ensure it's sanitary. The water stored in rain barrels is also used in circumstances where water is either not available or the water they have is of poor quality or expensive.
Although most rain barrels are portable above-ground rain barrels, many implement the use of in ground rain barrels or tanks to keep and store storm water for a later time. Water barrels of this kind are often used in areas that experience extreme dry periods. The water is collected and stored during the rainy spells and kept for when the dry periods occur and they need the water. Some climates experience extreme dry spells where, without the help of rain barrels storing water would use up a lot of energy using main water for watering lawns or gardens, etc.
Although large rain barrels may have an initial high cost, most homes use small rain barrels that store enough water for their needs while being cheap to maintain. As another means of helping the environment by recycling, many of the rain barrels are made from recycled transport, food or wine and whiskey aging barrels. With proper maintenance and filtering, many of these rain barrels are even used for laundry and drinking water. With use of recycled food grade polyethylene, these rain barrels become even more eco-friendly. More and more individuals are choosing to purchase or make their own rain barrels as a way to avoid the high cost of water and energy.
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