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Rain barrels

Pam

Pam

To the west of me, the City of Atlanta has announced they only have 90 days of water in their reservoir. To the east of me, Kershaw County has imposed strict watering restrictions, watering by hand only one day a week.

I think I am going to have to bump the rain barrel project up. So, my question is, if you were looking for food grade 55 galleon drums to make a rain barrel out of, where would you look? I've found one man who has some to sell through the local Market Bulletin, but I'll have to drive almost an hour and half to get out there.

I took a quick look on the web, and new they seem to sell for around $50.

So, any other suggestions on where to look?
 
is this water for drink ??..cause if it's not ,mabye you could use a big garbage (you'll probably find it in a wall mart or something like this) and probably cheaper than 50 buck
 
I waould say the same as QF -- Even Home Depot has the retractable barrel for leavs and such less than 20$ I believe... If you have a scrap metal place nearby check there sometimes they have plastic ones as well
 
QuebecFire said:
is this water for drink ??..cause if it's not ,mabye you could use a big garbage (you'll probably find it in a wall mart or something like this) and probably cheaper than 50 buck
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No, it's to collect rain water to water the garden. A plastic trash can isn't strong enough to hold 55 galleons of water, and a metal one will rust.

The man in the Market Bulletin is selling them for $10 and $12, which is a very good price. I was just looking to avoid driving an hour and half to the middle of no where to find his house. Then I would have to borrow a truck or van to get more than one or two barrels since my sister wants to try a rain barrel.
 
On the island of Saba (Caribbean) the locals have metal roofs...which they keep meticulously clean. They harvest water from their roofs. You could probably get additional water by rigging your gutters to help fill your barrels.
 
One of my favourite local gardening shows 'Vasili's Garden' shows Italian & Greek emigrants gardens from around suburban Melbourne & all the tips & tricks they brought from the 'old country' including water saving. They use anything. LINK On the menu at the right is water saving 1 & 2.
 
staffing said:
On the island of Saba (Caribbean) the locals have metal roofs...which they keep meticulously clean. They harvest water from their roofs. You could probably get additional water by rigging your gutters to help fill your barrels.
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Oh yeah, absolutely, that's the plan. I'm even eying two of my sheds to put cheap gutters on for two more rain barrels, but I probably won't do that unless things really get worse. Right now there are no watering restrictions in my area, but I'm acting now because I believe they're inevitable.
 
bentalphanerd said:
One of my favourite local gardening shows 'Vasili's Garden' shows Italian & Greek emigrants gardens from around suburban Melbourne & all the tips & tricks they brought from the 'old country' including water saving. They use anything. LINK On the menu at the right is water saving 1 & 2.
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I already do most of the things they suggest that it's possible for me to do. The one I don't, recycling grey water from the washing machine, is in the works. Using water from the shower and dishwasher would require expensive replumbing. I did shower with a bucket in the shower the last time we had a serious drought, I guess I'm going to have to get my bucket back out.
 
I think it'd be worth the drive to get the one form the Market dude. I've looked around locally and good plastic containers are hard to find. One place to try is a local car wash or garage, as they get soaps and fluids in 50 gallon drums sometimes, and with some effort you can clean them out with bleah and whatnot and use them. I got a 50 gallon drum from a truck stop that had it filled with windshield washer fluid. I simply cut the top off and scrubbed the h3ll out of it a couple times and it's been serving me well and should for many years to come. I've looked online myself and couldn'd find anything reasonable and the best deal was around $100 after shipping..
 
Thanks for the ideas. Potawie, I called some Greek delis in town, and they said they didn't get anything in barrels that size. They suggested I call cafeterias, so I'm going to call the university cafeteria and see what they have.

And of course, just to taunt me, we had rain today. Not a downpour, but a light steady rain almost all afternoon and evening.
 
Pam said:
And of course, just to taunt me, we had rain today. Not a downpour, but a light steady rain almost all afternoon and evening.
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I know what you're saying. Sky is growling tonight with a big storm folding across the sky for us too.

BTW I scored my 44 at a recycling depot...they had a pile of them.
 
Pam said:
Yay!

And we're supposed to get more rain tomorrow. Yay again!

Maybe we should spend more time talking about serious drought precautions.
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True. [twilight-zone music] This thread seems to be like some weird voodoo internet rain dance :scared: [/twilight-zone music]
 
bentalphanerd said:
True. [twilight-zone music] This thread seems to be like some weird voodoo internet rain dance :scared: [/twilight-zone music]
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Gosh, this drought sure is tough. I think I'll have to buy bottled water to water my peppers.

*peers out window*

Ohhhhh, we're having a shower!
 
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