Water has been a shortage in our area for some time. Last Year, the county offered residence rebates for converting their lawns into permeable pavers, or landscape that requires less water. It means tearing out your lawns and replacing them with some beautiful but drought resistance plants. At the same time, the county also encouraged the use of drip system instead of the sprinkler system.It was overwhelmingly popular, as you can imagine, a lot of homes in California have very little yards, and thus many folks chose to turn their little backyards into barbecue areas with permeable pavers.
Knowing this and how much our water bill usually is, I am so tempted to buy some rain barrels. I wanted to be able to give the garden and flowers as much as water as they need and not deprive them of the potential to grow. The problem was I couldn't find any the last time I looked for rain barrels for sale.
My mother uses some of the old 5 gallons paint buckets as her rain water barrels. She always runs out of water much sooner than she wanted. This goes to show that she could use the real thing as it would hold much more when opportunity comes for rain harvesting.It looks like I have another thing to convince my SO to buy in. We are in the spirit of shedding things rather than accumulating things, so this will not be an easy task, but I have to be ready to make a good case and worked out the organization process before hand.
Thanks for stopping by today.
14 Comments
the use of rain barrel is a very smart thought Amanda, I remember my younger days where we collect rain as much as we could :)
ReplyDeleteThere were a few years in Arizona that the droughts were so bad that my mom would literally empty the tubs after baths with a bucket and take the water pail full by pail full out to the garden. It was a lot of effort, but it watered the plants.
ReplyDeleteJust stopping by to say hi! Already following you!
ReplyDeleteBeth @ Two Monkeys & a Washtub
We have lived for 49 years on rainwater alone, Both in our house on the mountain and on our farm. We have no reticulated water at all. On the farm we have in excess of 69,000 gallons of storage which sees two families through for a number of years in a bad cycle and also manages to give our gardens a needed drink.
ReplyDeleteOur cattle and sheep rely on bore and dam water. Everyone with care can be self sufficient in water. The main water use is that magic button on the WC.
A little recycling also helps. Showering with a bucket , then using that water to flush the toilet. It would normally have gone into the same system anyway.
I can't believe these 91 degree temperatures in Daly City today, Amanda...I'd like a rain barrel of cool water to dip my tootsies in for a brief spell!
ReplyDelete@betchai Yes, my mother is already on this, the feeling is wonderful when you know you're doing something good.
ReplyDelete@Arija Oh my gosh, thanks for such an enlightening comment. I never knew of anyone still living on rain water. You must have tons of rain barrels?
ReplyDelete@RNSANE Yes, well going outside today, I felt like dumping a few rain barrels on myself too. Smiles.
ReplyDeleteMy grandmother used to save water in rain barrels. She said it was softer water for washing her hair.
ReplyDeleteI collect rain water in whatever buckets I had around the house. It does save me on water bill and make my flowers happy!
ReplyDeleteI greatly want to get rid of my lawn- way too much grass. Still, it does provide a nice job for the boys to earn some spending money. We don't water during the summer, though, so no worries about wasting water here. Just the same, I am investigating how I will be turning our yard into a more northwest-looking yard, rather than well manicured. As a point of interest, we can get fined for having rain barrels here. The regulations on rain barrels are very specific. Wonder if it's that way in the rest of the country.
ReplyDeleteThat is a wonderful idea Amanda. If we all did that even on just a small level, it would help so much. Great post.
ReplyDeletewell in this time of tough economy it is just practical to think of anything to save money. rain barrel is really a good idea.
ReplyDeleteI like to use rain water to water my vegetable during the growing season. Great post!
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