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What is a Rain Barrel?
A rain barrel is a rainwater collection system that stores rooftop runoff to be used later for watering lawns and gardens. When rainwater falls on your rooftop, it runs off into gutters and downspouts and either soaks into the soils of the surrounding landscape, or flows into the street. The water that ends up in the street is called stormwater.
Rain barrels are a fantastic way to reduce the amount of stormwater running into storm drains during wet weather and reduce the amount of fresh water being used up during dry weather. Rain barrels are an inexpensive and effective way to be green!
Rain barrels and larger collection systems can be purchased from many lawn & garden stores or made out of food-grade plastic or wooden barrels.
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How to Build, Paint,
Install & Maintain Your Own
Rain Barrel PDF
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Parts of a Rain Barrel
1. Inlet - where rain water enters your barrel. In order to keep debris out of the barrel, it should be screened or covered in some way.
2. Outlet - how you get water out of the barrel for use in your yard. You can hook a hose to the spigot or simply transport the water with a watering can. If you are having trouble getting water out of the barrel, make its stand higher to increase the water pressure.
3. Overflow - allows excess water to leave the barrel when it's full. During most rainstorms your barrel will fill up long before it has stopped raining. Attach a hose to the overflow and place the hose's end away from your foundation. If you are interested in capturing even more stormwater, you can hook another rain barrel to the first barrel's overflow.
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For further information or to order a rain barrel contact Jennifer Ronnenberg at (507) 526-2388. Additional information may also be found at the following links:
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