Rain barrel

Last weekend my dad and I installed a rain barrel on one of my downspouts in my back yard. For those of you who do not know what a rain barrel is, it's a device (usually an old barrel or large bucket) that you can use to capture and store rain water. I asked my dad if he had an old barrel at his office and he did. That saved me $25 it would have cost to buy one in Charlotte. He also brought me a hose bib connection and a can of rubber gasket so we could install a hose bib at the base of the barrel. This lets me connect a hose or place a bucket under the barrel to get some water. The water can be used to water plants, wash cars or, in storm conditions, used for drinking water. We took off one of my downspouts and attached a 6-inch corrugated pipe from the downspout to the barrel. On Wednesday, we received one inch of rain while I was at work. When I got home, I looked out the window and water was gushing over the top of the barrel because it had more than 55-gallons of water in it! Cindy and I are using the water to keep our flowers and blueberry bushes alive during periods of little to no rain. I have even thought of installing a drip irrigation line around my shrubs and using the pressure in the rain barrel to keep them alive as well. If you would like more information about rain barrel's you can visit this site to learn more.

The corrugated pipe attaches from the downspout the top of the rain barrel.

We attached a hose bib at the base and raised the barrel so I could place a bucket under the barrel.

The barrel was full after one rain.
My massive blueberry bush.