Finney County Conservation District

What is a Rain Barrel?

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A rain barrel is the simplest way to collect and store rain water. Typically plastic 55 gallon barrels are converted to collect rain water from your gutter system for use later in the garden and landscape. The water collected from the roof of the house is soft water (water without any chemicals and minerals) making it ideal for garden plants and lawns. By collecting and using rain water, households reduce dependency upon local city utilities for water, thus reducing treated tap water and storm water runoff into local streams.

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Rain barrels connect directly to the home's downspout and allow the rainwater or storm water coming off the roof to fill the barrel. If space is available, several rain barrels can be connected, creating a series of barrels allowing for larger amounts of storm water to be collected and stored.

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Collecting rain water is budget and environmentally friendly. It may save money on your water bill.

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In the heat of the summer, nearly 40% of household water is used for outdoor watering.

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Collecting rainwater and using it slowly on your landscape encourages infiltration, which help prevent runoff of pollutants - including nitrogen, phosphorus, sediment, and E.coli bacteria - into local streams, creeks and rivers.

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Plants, trees and shrubs may be more vibrant and hearty when irrigated with rainwater.

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Being a good steward of natural resources makes a difference. Normally, water from a kitchen faucet is considered safe and reliable. But in many areas tap water is surface water that has made a long journey to your home. Before being delivered through pipes to your faucet it has:

- Run down a city street

- Drained into a storm drain

- Emptied into a creek, river or stream

- Flowed through a water distribution system and

- Been treated at a water plant to meet state and federal drinking water standards.

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It takes cooperation to protect local water supplies and ensure a safe, reliable drinking water supply. Building and installing rain barrels in a home landscape is one way to do your part and step toward being a Clean Water Neighbor.

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*Note - Rain Barrels need to be secure and have a closure to ensure safety of children and to keep animals out.

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Did You Know?

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- Did you know that with a 1 inch rain it only takes 88 square feet to fill a 55 gallon rain barrel?

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- The typical roof area of a house is between 1200-2000 square feet.

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- That's 750-1250 gallons of water that runs off each time we have 1 inch of rain!

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- To calculate the potential harvesting amount of water from a roof, take the area times 0.623. this will give you the amount for 1 inch of rain.

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