8x10Gallery.com

When I got the rain barrels, I expected it would take quite awhile for them to fill up. Turns out I was completely wrong. After the gutters were put up, we had several storms with water spewing out onto the driveway. The rain barrels weren’t in place and then it turned to blue skies again. I joked that I had jinxed the whole operation by putting them in place and we wouldn’t see rain for the rest of the year. Not so.

We’ve had a few days of light rain and a couple of storms. That has been plenty to fill both rain barrels to overflowing. Turns out 100 gallons wasn’t nearly enough. We’ve had a lot of light mist as well, which doesn’t feel like much, but when you watch the flow down the spout, you realize it adds up quickly. It’s a bit late in the year to buy another set, but I plan to get at least 2 more from Amazon and chain them together.

Considering how easy it is to capture water for later use, seems like neighborhoods and especially useless HOAs need to get on the ball and encourage people to use rain barrels. When Donna and I started looking for barrels about 5 years ago there was nothing. The best we could do was an old plastic feed barrel. Now companies make them to look like oak barrels, rocks and urns and you can get them shipped to your door from Amazon. What does that tell you?

Time to get on the ball and conserve some water.

Other Articles of Interest:

• And just like that, the house is done
• Sealing and waterproofing the deck
• Merry Chickemas to all and to all a Good Thigh!
• And then I cut out a driveway and discovered some grapevines and clay
• And then it snowed during the Run Jen Run 5k
• A quick trip to Arizona
• The Kindle Fire is En Route
• It really is snowing!
• The attic, a dishwasher, power lines and water lines
• Gearing Up