Yesterday I was reading a blog post about constructing a rainbarrel to collect water from the roof. I got all excited about it (it's been a project I've wanted to do for a long time) and decided to just do whatever I could to collect it because there was actually a 60% possibility of rain that afternoon. I used these to collect rain from my gutter.
The two big containers *did not* fit under the spout. But that tiny little one (which is actually the bottom part of a potty training chair that I now use for various odd jobs in the garden) did.
*Off subject thoughts...
When my daughter was being potty trained, she didn't know that 'to train' was a verb. When she had to pee, she'd yell, "Mommy, I need to get on the potty train!" Now every time I hear someone speak about potty training, I think, "All aboard the potty train. Whoo whoo!"
Anyway, as I said, the small container was the only one that fit under the gutter spout. So, I went ahead and put it there as soon as it began to rain. Within 5 minutes it was full to overflowing. So I dumped it into one of the bigger buckets and replaced it back under the spout. I would also like to mention that when I pulled it out from under the spout, I had to tip it on it's side slightly, so I lost about one quarter of the water that it contained.
So, as the friends and family that were over visiting can attest to, every 5 minutes, I got up from chatting or shucking corn or grilling corn or frying chorizo to go and empty the small bucket into one of the larger buckets, each time spilling an inch or two of water.
Because of this behavior of mine, it rained for quite a while. The weather gods were enjoying my antics and wanted them to continue. It did stop around the time when I needed to leave to go to a friend's house for beers. The weather gods knew that no matter how much it rained then, I would not be tempted to run home and empty the small bucket into the larger one.
They did, however, know that around eleven o'clock at night the sound of rain falling on the roof would be very tempting to me. Which, I'm fully convinced, is why it began raining at that time. I lay in bed and thought, "I really ought to go and empty that bucket. The water's just overflowing from it and running onto the concrete." And then I'd think about how tired I was, what a long day it had been and I would drift off to sleep, only to be woken a half hour later to the exact same thought. And so it kept raining, trying to lure me out into the darkness with its siren call. It became an internal battle between my neuroses and my laziness. Lazy won.
So, this morning I decided that I would unscrew the gutter from the wall and place a clean trash can under it. It wasn't outfitted quite as nice as the rainbarrels I'd been reading about, but it would catch water, and I wouldn't have to stoop down to help the process in any way.
I got as far as making sure that my weed-picking trash can was cleaned out and then went inside for lunch. As I sat there, I heard a huge clap of thunder and ran out with my screwdriver to try to loosen the spout from the wall. OK, I can do this before it starts raining. Then it started raining. No worries, it's just 4 screws. Except the screwdriver wasn't working because the screws had been painted over. So, I got the socket set and got all of the screws out as it started raining harder. OK, oops wow, now I just need to somehow figure out how, to, slide, this, stupid, garbage can, up, under this dumb downspout (with only 3 inches of clearance). OK, perfect.
Well, not perfect, but at least it'll catch water.
So, I went back inside just as the rain stopped.
Seriously.
As I write this, the sky is a perfectly clear blue with nothing but pretty white fluffy clouds floating through it. And when I was rushing with the screws, I swear to God that the entire sky southeast of my house was a solid gray color, and moving toward me.
I realize that this is the exact reason that I have never before tried to collect rainwater from the roof. I knew that if I was prepared and especially, if it was easy to use, that it would never rain again. If I had one of those fancy barrels that actually has a spigot at the bottom that I could hook a hose directly to, that would totally be the kiss of death and our town would soon be a barren desert.
You're welcome.
2 comments:
I have craved a rain barrel for years. I am obsessed with trying to find a large barrel. I even phoned the pickle barrel and asked if they actually had pickle barrels. "Um, no," said the kid on the other end of the phone.
One problem though, it stopped raining in Montana all together. I think it has been two months since we had a drop. I'd have to hoard rain in the spring to make it worth it.
Nice work putting yours together and I heart the potty train story.
Yah I know, Ang. It has something to do with an old farming law that says we can't restrict the water flowing to rivers.
My favorite part of the whole thing is that we're not supposed to collect rain water, but get charged money every year to pay for 'storm water runoff'. Brilliant.
Post a Comment