Water Conservation

The summer of 2007 was particularly hard on Atlanta and all of the southeastern United States due to a drought. Many cities around Georgia enacted total outdoor watering bans. Lawns suffered, gardens went to weed and people started watering their outdoor plants with gray water from their washing machines or bath tubs.

Honestly, except for the grass getting brown, I haven't really noticed a difference in my life. I already take short showers and have low flow toilets and water saving shower heads. As long as water still comes out of my faucet when I turn it on I probably won't do much else to conserve. Like gas prices, the price of water really hasn't reached a point where most people care about how much they use.

What did I do? Toward the end of last summer I started making rain barrels. I started by installing one next to our back patio. A few days later it rained for about 30 minutes. It wasn't a huge downpour. I would just call it a nice, steady rain. Before that rain was over my rain barrel had completely filled and was overflowing. My wife was happy. She was able to keep watering her outdoor plants without worrying about the water police coming around.

Did you know that 1/2" of rain on a 1000 square foot roof sends 300 gallons of water through your gutters? I had no idea!

After that first rain, I was hooked. I bought two more barrels, converted them to rain barrels and put them up under another backyard downspout. After those barrels I made a few more for some friends, and then a few more, and then a few more. I found that most people really do want to conserve water, they just don't know how easy it really is.

The 55 gallon drums are so expensive to ship, it is hardly worth the price. Even local distributors charge a small fortune for a used barrel with some hardware fittings put on it...and most don't really care if it is functional. I experimented with a few different designs and have come up with one I am very happy with. It is cost effective and does not require any type of gutter covers.

I now list my extra rain barrels on Craigslist and on my website: www.AtlantaRainBarrels.com . I make a little money on each barrel but I really do feel good when I make them. The people I meet are so happy to have a small solution to their watering needs.

I am happy to share some pointers with you if you are interested in making your own rain barrel. It's easy. Your plants will thank you.