Get The Dirt: Rain Has Arrived!

Rainfall can easily be captured in a rain barrel, a device used to collect rainwater mainly for landscape irrigation.

One workshop attendee said, “I like using natural resources that are free and beneficial to the environment. Capturing rainwater prevents stormwater runoff which displaced the soil, mulch and plants under my roofline.”

Benefits: Reduce potable (drinking) water used for landscape irrigation; decrease erosion, stormwater runoff and water source pollution.

Facts: One inch of rain from a 1,000-square-foot roof yields 625 gallons. Considering our 50-53 inches of rainfall annually, we could capture 31,000-plus gallons of rainwater.

Location: Locate the barrel near a downspout. If you do not have downspouts/gutters, place the barrel under the area where the roof forms a V.

Materials: Food-grade container/drum, drill, 15/16-inch drill bit, brass boiler drain, PVC cement and concrete blocks.

Platform stability: Two or four concrete blocks placed horizontally under a barrel work well. Do not stand the blocks vertically. For more than one layer of blocks, stack in a crisscross pattern. Make sure the ground under the blocks is level and packed down. This takes more time than any of the other steps. One gallon of water weighs 8.3 pounds, so a full 55-gallon rain barrel weighs 456.5 pounds.

Installation: To transition from the gutter/downspout to the rain barrel opening, use a cross piece of downspout material or a flexible downspout extender.

Clean barrel prior to installation: Use a green cleaning solution or one-eighth cup of bleach and 5 gallons of water.

Painting: Before installation, prime the barrel, then use outdoor acrylic paint. If you don’t prime the barrel before painting, use paint specifically for plastic. After painting, let it dry according to the directions; then put one to two coats of polyurethane over the paint for protection.

We offer rainwater harvesting workshops on the first Saturday of the month from February through November. Check our website at https://sfyl.ifas.ufl.edu/hillsborough/ for dates/times.