Let it Rain

One thing we learned during this record breaking hot summer was that we used a lot of water for landscaping. Although we chose many drought resistant plants, our water usage was still pretty high. So, in an effort to conserve water and save money, we decided to put in gutters and collect our rain water.




Greg decided he would build our rain barrel. We bought a 305 gallon plastic water tank from Agri-Supply. Using some rough-sawn treated lumber from his dad's sawmill, he built a wooden surround and conical top. He then used some steel strapping to cinch the cylinder of boards securely together. The tank is equipped with an overflow pipe that is connected to the underground drain pipe, and has a garden hose connection with a valve at the bottom of the tank. Greg's brother Keith, an engineer in Raleigh, designed and sized all the tank plumbing. Keith also computed all the angles necessary to build the cylindrical tank and the conical top. Our friend and metal-worker, Christian Nonino, and crew plumbed the gutter downspout to the tank. All that remains to be done is making a metal "topper" for the tank.







The other day, someone drove by our house on a bicycle and shouted out that the water barrel reminded them of "Petticoat Junction". We had no idea what he meant, but after googling it and watching the intro to the 1960's TV show, we sorta get it. Pretty funny actually.