Rain collection system

[vette-kid]

What do I do with it. New house has a collection tank, probably 30-40 gallons to catch runoff from the gutters. But now that I have 40 gallons of rain water... What in the heck do I do with it? I'm already on a well for irrigation, so no savings there. I imagine it would need some pretty good treatment to be drinkable.
It's a cool concept, I just don't know what to do with it!

 

[DirtMechanic]

For plants. One bit of advice is patience. Dry times will come.

 

[alp]

You're so lucky to have a well. But if you have citrus, blueberry plants, camellias, rhodos, they all love rainwater. Or you could have a pond to attract wildlife. I wish this were my problem .. too much water, rain, well or tap (but free!)..

 

[Becky]

I'll second the pond suggestion

I wish this were my problem .. too much water, rain, well or tap (but free!)..

You should move to Manchester

 

[alp]

I'll second the pond suggestion



You should move to Manchester

No, thanks! I nearly had an accident in the town centre spaghetti junctions. I was so scared. Also it's much colder. I prefer to stay in Essex although I suffer from drought panic every single summer. When I saw a band of rain in Cornwall, I knew instantly they couldn't make it over to Essex. Alas, I was so annoyingly accurate.

 

[marlingardener]

Texas is usually pretty dry, but when it does rain, we have three 250 gal. cubes that collect rainwater from the house, garage, and barn roofs. I use it to water the vegetable and flower gardens when the dry times come. We ran out of water once, in the terrible drought a few years back.
Here is our set-up off the barn roof, the largest roof we have:

We also water the hens from the rain water. Our ground water contains arsenic, and I feel that the rain is better for them.
We also have two 55 gal. garbage pails that catch water from the workshop and shed roofs. We save every drop we can and use it sparingly. Our distribution method is "fill and carry" for buckets and watering cans. I sure get to know our plants that way!

 

[alp]

I sure need one or two of these enormous containers. I have rubbish bin, big flowering pots, reclaimed kerosene big tub, storage containers. We never have enough water in Essex.