Anne Clapp has more on how to choose the right rain barrel.
Those of us who garden are not comfortable using the municipal drinking water supply for watering our plants so using collected rain water makes a lot of sense.
Think of it this way -- if you have a 1,000-square-foot roof and you get 1 inch of rain, you have about 620 gallons of water going down the downspouts. You can collect the rainwater and conserve it for use in your garden.
Here is what to look for in a good rain barrel:
• Dark color to reduce the algae in the water
• A top to keep mosquito problems at bay
• A spout to connect to a hose or fill a watering can.
You can connect the barrel to the downspout or to a foundation collection system but it will need to be raised on some sort of platform if you want to fill a watering can. If you want to collect more than 70 gallons of water at this spot, you will want to put an overflow valve on to allow you to connect the barrel to another.
Even when we are not in a drought, collecting rain water for our gardens makes sense.