Rain Barrel

Last winter I built a rain barrel and added a gutter to the back porch to funnel the rain to it. I added a piece of screen over the end of the gutter to filter out the trash and I also added a spigot at the bottom and another garden hose attachment at the top for overflow. I keep the garden hose, which runs to my bee and butterfly garden, attached to the top overflow connection. This funnels all the extra over flow to my flowers during a rain. When it has been dry for several days, I move the hose down to the spigot attachment and turn it on to drain the barrel. There is plenty of water pressure for the water to travel to the garden, plus the garden is a little downhill. I have read that a rain barrel has enough pressure to push the water through a soaker hose, but I have not tried it yet. I also have a small bird bath under the spigot and try to leave it dripping slowly to keep the bird bath full and to attract birds with the sound of the dripping water. The rain barrel quickly fills up with only a light rain because the gutter funnels the water from a large area of the roof. The rain water is good to use for the plants and animals because it doesn’t contain any chemicals such as chlorine and fluoride.

 Rain Barrel Overflow During a Light Rain

Overflow Hose Running to the Butterfly Garden