The weight of 1 U.S. gallon of pure water is about 8.345 pounds. Consequently, a rainfall of 1 inch over 1acre of ground would mean 27,143 gallons of water.

How Much Rain Water Runs Off Your Roof?

1. Take the dimensions of the footprint of your roof and convert them to inches. (So, a 50′ x 20′ roof is 600″ x 240″.)
2. Multiply the roof dimensions by the number of inches of rainfall.
3. Divide by 231 to get the number of gallons (because 1 gallon = 231 cubic inches).

For example, on a 2,000 square foot roof, you can collect 2,000 x 0.56 = 1,120 gallons/inch of rain. If your average rainfall was 25 inches/year, your annual collection potential is 1,120 x 25= 28,000 gallons/year.

(10 ft. x 20 ft.) section of roof will fill a 60 gallon rain barrel in one day.

Check with soda pop manufacturers, car washes, car dealers, food processing plants and animal supply outlets. Watch ads online and in your local paper for free barrels. You may find inexpensive barrels on dairy farms, at garage sales and auctions, and in salvage yards.

Have you heard of the ways you can use a rain catcher to lower those bills? You probably also didn’t know that 623 gallons of water can be harvested from 1 inch of rain on a 1,000-square-foot roof and as far as rain barrels are concerned, a typical 1/2-inch rainfall will fill a 50- to 55-gallon barrel.

Rain barrels are great for collecting water, however, anytime you are storing water it can become an ample breeding ground for mosquitoes. Unfortunately, rain barrels are also a prime breeding ground for mosquitoes.

The law used to be the only obstacle; collecting rain was technically illegal in many states because any precipitation was subject to that strict hierarchy of water rights stretching back to the mid-1800s. But studies estimate that only a fraction of rain actually makes it to a river — less, during a drought.

One or two tablespoons of liquid soap per week is plenty for most rain barrels. Mosquito dunks – Also known as mosquito donuts, mosquito dunks are round cakes of Bti (Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis), a naturally occurring bacteria that provides mosquito control in rain barrels as it slowly dissolves.

Many arid or drought-prone regions have restrictions on lawn watering, and a rain barrel system can be an excellent way to get around these rules. If water use is expensive, capturing precipitation to use in the household can also be worthwhile. The cost of such a system depends on its size and the technology used.

What are the Pros and Cons of Having a Rain Barrel?

• Pros: Great way to Get Additional Water. The most important benefit is that this is a great way to get additional water for your home.
• Cons: The Water Isn’t Clean Enough for Drinking.
• Pros: Great for Watering Garden.
• Cons: You can Struggle to Fill up the Barrel During the Dry Season.
• Pros: Save on Water Means Safe on Money.

When the rain barrel is full, the diverter shuts off, and the rainwater will simply flow through the gutter like it normally would. But when there is a heavy rainfall, many times the rain barrel overflow valve can’t keep up, and excess water can bubble over the top of the barrel rather than out the release valve.

Empty the rain barrel between storm events. If more than one barrel is needed for your roof area, install additional barrels in series. Cracks or damage The rain barrel contained water and temperatures dropped below freezing. Make sure you empty your rain barrel prior to winter.

Rain barrels can not only help save money on municipal water bills but they can also reduce erosion and flooding caused by turbulent stormwater runoff. According to the EPA, rain barrels have the ability to save the average homeowner 1300 gallons of water, which is a lot of water that does not become runoff.

23.1 feet

If you don’t have a filter going into your rain barrel (or if your filter is too large), those particles can get inside. As the bacteria consume these organic compounds, the smell of rotten eggs is produced.

Basic precautions can help keep your collected rainwater from stagnating.

1. Use your rainwater as often as possible to keep it from stagnating.
2. Use a dark colored, food-grade barrel that is approved for liquids.
3. Cover your barrel with a tight-fitting top.
4. Clean your gutters and roof regularly.

Based on study results, rain barrel water can be safely utilized to irrigate a vegetable/herb garden. Pathogen treatment should be conducted and best practices utilized when applying the water.

Sprinkle baking soda on the inside of each rain barrel, and add some fresh water by using your garden hose. Scrub each barrel with this baking soda-water mixture. Baking soda is a natural odor eliminator. Wash all parts of each rain barrel, including its downspout and screen.

Algae grows almost in any water with sunlight and is not harmful. To eliminate it, put one or two capfuls of bleach in the water (not in your empty tank). Although that small amount of chlorine won’t be harmful, let the water sit for a few days before you use it on plants.

The most common technologies include boiling, iodine, chlorination, solarization, ultraviolet (UV) irradiation, ozonation, microfiltration and ultrafiltration.

between one week and indefinitely

Stored rainwater may contain some organic matter, in the form of insect larvae or algae growth. Rain also contains traces of nitrates, essential for plant growth. If you filter or distill your tap water, then it is better than straight tap water for your houseplant.

Stored rain water is not recommended for use with seeds and seedlings in case it carries disease. Tap water will meet the needs of most garden plants but is relatively costly and is a finite resource and should be used carefully. Watering only when needed and soil level is most economical method.

Although they still grow when watered with tap water the results you get from watering with rain water are vastly improved. Chlorine and other substances in mains water inhibit the uptake of nutrients and thus reduce plant growth and health. Rain water has a neutral pH.

Con: Tap water often has additive chlorine in it which can be very harmful to your plants. Cities also have differing water qualities and some can be very low quality. If you use tap water, you may notice that your plants are not growing as tall and strong to the best of their abilities.

Watering Tomatoes Using rainwater is typically recommended as the healthiest technique with tomatoes. You can also use tap water or follow traditional recycling practices. In the “olden days”, gardeners caught rainwater in water barrels and tubs and used this to water the vegetable garden.

Normal, clean rain has a pH value of between 5.0 and 5.5, which is slightly acidic. However, when rain combines with sulfur dioxide or nitrogen oxides—produced from power plants and automobiles—the rain becomes much more acidic. Typical acid rain has a pH value of 4.0.

When you add acid, bromothymol blue turns yellow; when you add a base (like sodium sulfite), it turns blue. Green means neutral (like water).

Pure water is neither acidic or basic; it is neutral. So how does something become acidic or basic? That happens when the hydroniums and the hydroxyls are out of balance. If there are more positively charged hydroniums than negatively charged hydroxyls, then the substance is acidic.