Rainbarrels

Date: October 9, 2008

      We have a water conservation problem.
      Somewhere along the way, we lost sight of the fact that the planet has a finite number of molecules, and they are finite in what they can be. For some of these, they can be steam, running water or ice. And no matter what, they are not be created or added to. Just shifting about.

      The problem is that we are contributing to them shifting about in a way that is not helpful to our lives. We waste a lot!

      There are few things we can do to get our way-ward behavior under control.
Worried about sex education? How about conservation education? How about go back to the basics?

      Teach kids from day-care on how to wash hands, brush teeth, wipe themselves, and flush toilets. Basic sanitation.
      And teach them how to save water.
      They may eventually need it.

      We need to go back to rain barrels.
      I grew up with these things in my early days.

      Step back in time.
      Most homes have rain gutters, that collect rain (and leaves and other stuff)
and pour it (funnel it) down a down-spout that often just dumps out on the ground, or to a drainage pipe to the street, or connects to the sewer line.

    We USED to, certainly in town and country, have the downspout feed to a rain barrel.

    This is literally a big barrel - say about 3 feet high or so. You see them in old movies hauling whiskey.

    They also hauled flour, sugar, beans, whatever. They were a CONTAINER.

      Now - admittedly, we didn't start out with mosquitoes. And rain barrels at first were NOT covered.

    And the bugs in Massachusetts are out of control (I have seen the ground move).

    But lids are possible. Wooden lids. And you can always add fish to the barrel in places where the water changes out (yes - they can overflow).

      These barrels would collect the rain, and then held it.  (moss grew around the bottoms.)

    You dipped into them when you needed water for ironing. And eventually for steam irons.

      You dipped into them to water flowers and vegetables.
      You dipped into them to wash your hair (made it soft).
      You dipped in and drank from it (and did not get sick doing so).
      But then, we drank from lawn hoses. So did my kids. I still do.

      The point it, it had a purpose. It saved water for when you had none falling from the heavens.

      It kept at least part of it from running off to flood elsewhere and be useless.

      Why not bring them back? Where they can be brought back.

      One on every corner of the house. More than four corners? More rain barrels!

      If you go to the trouble of low-flow toilets, reduced-flow showers, shared bath water, (oh yes - we did that - got a bunch of kids? bathe them together),
full dishwasher and full washing machine loads, timers on showers, timers on lawn sprinklers,  

    Well then, why not rainbarrels?

      Remember the old adage:

little drops of water and little grains of sand, make the mighty ocean and the promised land.

      What did you do to save water today?

For those uninitiated - you can Google rainbarrels and find suppliers - get them decorator-style, get them in pairs (for overflow), get pipes to divert downspouts, get them in urn shapes and clay, get them as dark barrel shapes, get them to match English-style (squatter). Etc. I had no idea! (Dark keeps UV down and reduces Algae. Frankly, I liked the moss and algae.)