The barrels you get at the workshop will probably be already done, ready for use. At least, that was how we found our rainbarrels last week at the Waterpalooza. I just had to vacuum it out to get the plastic particles, enlarge the gutter opening, and hook it up to my gutter.

The options are many! If you do a search on the GW Florida Forum, you will find many previous posts on the subject.

I love my barrels! The sound of them filling up is so neat!

$45 per barrel is reasonable, if they are ready to go. Online, some go for $150 or more. But, barrels that simply need to be washed and drilled for use, can be had for around $12. You will need to buy the faucets and overflow pipe materials.

The more barrels the better. They can be linked together easily. They fill up really fast, even with light rains.
I think every roofed structure in Florida should have these!
They make so much sense!

Lisa

Lisa,

So I gotta ask, does the name refer to mastiff dogs? I only ask because we're thinking it's time for a puppy and I have always loved bull mastiffs.

But back to rain barrells, I did some research on the web and the prices seemed outrageous comnpared to rain barrell day sponsored by the county. Once I figure these out, I'll try to build them myself for even cheaper. I've got a long area on an unused side of the house (almost zero lot lines, so no room to plant anything) where I could link them all up and have four or five, I think.

Just wondering about the downsides. Have you had any problems I can't think of?

Susannah

Hi
Here's my two cents lol They take up a lot of room,are rather expensive they waste the overflow,breed mosquitoes
and don't provide enough pressure for sprinklers.
I've partially overcome the negatives by turning the collection area into a water garden and use a 150 gallon aquarium as the main reservoirs. This means I have 1200
gallons of reserve water without taking up 1 inch of space
from the grow areas lol. A beautiful planted self cleaning aquarium ,nice water garden and end up with nutrient rich
"waste" water for the shadehouse .
The "down " side of all this is it works too well .lol
During a two inch rain 700 gallons of water passed through the aquarium in about 1 hour and I only collect from one third of the roof!!! Though none of the fish were washed out they did seem a bit seasick lol. The water garden backed up and we had a few fish in the kitchen . lol To the other extreme . I still have to rely on city water occasionaly due to lack of rain.
I took the system a step further by adding a waterfall
and heated the water garden over winter. To cool and heat the air in the shadehouse. So far "partial" is the result lol. One more step and it will be perfect !!! gary

Hi Susanna, yeppers, Mastiffs (English, not Bull) have owned us since 1980. I have enjoyed several Bull Mastiffs over the years, but they have very short lives, so I chose not to have another one. They are an adorable breed, but the health problems are unbearable. Just had to euthanise a stunning, charming, red Champion male at only 5 years old. He was owned by a client/breeder at our vet clinic, and had kidney failure. My English Mastiffs live more than twice as long and are not dog-aggressive, which is common in Bull Mastiffs. Most of my Mastiffs live to 13, in good health.

My website (needs to be updated) is WorkingMastiffs.com

My only problem I've had with rain barrels is that I wish I had more of them! I have a hose hooked up to the overflow, so that water goes to a planting bed-so it is not wasted. No problems with mosquitos, I use a glub of vegetable oil in each barrel.You can customize your barrels, and make them really pretty. As Gary said, rainwater on a roof fills up containers FAST! So, if you can get a line of barrels hooked together, more can be stored for later use.

Have fun!!

Lisa

I have no room in my tiny yard for barrels; however, I have always done the "bucket brigade", when I see a good storm coming I set 5 gallon buckets under the drip edges of the house or simply in the yard. I then use them to water my container plants that didn't get rain. If you have the room and can control mosquito larvae, I think the barrels are a good idea.

Here is a link to an old thread on the Frugal Gardening forum that might be of interest. Scroll down to the one from the gal from Canada. I'd also suggest Google making a rain barrel.

Here is a link that might be useful: Check it out!

Oh dear. $45.00 each. You know, you can get 55-gallon drums free from car wash places and food suppliers. I just picked one up today. Other places to look (in Orlando) are Great Western Meats and Nelson Oil.

"are rather expensive"
Well no, they're...free. The small amount of plumbing hardware is negligible.

"they waste the overflow,"
you can attach multiple barrels
http://www.rainbarrel.net/connect.html

"breed mosquitoes"
they have screened tops now days

"don't provide enough pressure for sprinklers"
not made for sprinklers. Made for watering cans and soaker hoses.

http://www.naturalrainwater.com/make_rainbarrel.htm
http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/conservation/rainbarrel/
http://www.emmitsburg.net/gardens/articles/adams/audrey/water_barrel.htm

Hi
All the things I listed are from a bucket under the downspout approach.lol. With a bit of modification all these drawbacks can be turned into assets. Depends on how fancy you want to make it lol. As the modifications go up obviously so does the price but then so does the usefulness . I store the bulk of the rainwater in the fish pool which means not only do I not have to "hide" it it's right out in the open. I can grow all kinds of water plants .Mosquitoes mean free fish food overflow from this becomes self watering marsh garden. A simple submersible pump means I can run the sprinklers and means I have chemical free water for the shadehouse while at the same time have nutrient enriched water for the orchids.
In my a case a "barrel" would be about a weeks supply of water lol. I have 1200 gallons stored which is still not enough.lol. I run out .
If a barrel or bucket will meet your needs that's certainly easy enough but it's only about 5 percent of what you could do with a collection system.
I think I did well on cost also . I spent around 400 dollars on the main system.
As to using the rainwater for a heating and cooling system,only going into the second year with it and it's not working perfectly lol.
One thing that I seriously made a mistake on from the beginning was the potential. I only collect water from about a third of my small house roof so I thought I would have a very limited supply of water.
I seriously belive you could fill a swimming pool with it lol. If rainfall ever returns to "normal" I think I could fill Okeechobee.lol
Anyway my point on the "drawbacks" of a basic system are things to think about from the beginning. gary

Thanks for all the advice. Now, anyone know how to fit two 55-gallon barrels in a Celica? :)

Dear husband may have to drive over to the beach to put one in his car.

I float a plastic coffee can in my barells and cans. Female mosquitoes won't lay eggs in moving water. Just keep an eye on it that it doesn't fill up after a rain.:o)

I love my rain barrels. This is an old picture at my old house. I now have 3 rain barrels and use them all the time.

Laura, those are soo pretty! I learned that I don't know how to stencil, when I tried to fancy mine up(G). I used a branch off my Neem tree as a model, and got a rather large cloud of paint around it's leaves, on the barrel. How did you keep yours so neat?

I just picked up 8 barrels today to disperse among local GWebbers. Am looking forward to getting my own all set up and actually using them. My one, has really whetted (pun intended) my interest.(G)

Lisa

Neat? Hmmm...First I took cardboard and made the "dead zone" around the lizard larger so I'd have less overspray and then I touch up the over spray.

holy cow, lisa where'd you get 8 barrels?

Ache, MsMarion got 20 of them somewhere, and shared them with us! They smell yummy, because they were used for soy sauce. Can you imagine anyone needing 20, 55 gallon barrels of soy sauce?? I could only fit 8 in the truck, so will have to make another trip for the rest.

They were under $12 each, and are in perfect shape.

Lisa