The Great Rain Barrel Diverter Diversion

Rain barrels and rain barrel diverters are now becoming top selling gardening accessories as green gardeners look toward rainwater harvesting as a means to solve water issues in the garden. So the question needs to be asked, if you were to fit a rain barrel diverter to a downspout and direct rainwater into a rain barrel, how much rainwater do you really think you’re going to collect?

Well I have two 55 gallon rain barrels in my garden that are connected to one downspout that is serviced by about 250 square feet of roof area. As a consequence it only takes 0.7 inches of rainfall to fill both of those rain barrels. Now imagine if I only had one rain barrel attached to the downspout. It would then only require 0.35 inches of rainfall to fill the rain barrel. So if I was to get 1 inch of rain I could collect only 35% of that rainwater while 65% would be wasted and that’s of course assuming the rain barrel was empty to start off with. If I was to get more than 1 inch then even more would be wasted.

So the question needs to be asked; Are rain barrels practical and are they worth installing, considering most of the rainwater they harvest ends up going straight down the overflow? Well if you work on the theory that harvesting some is better than harvesting none then I suppose that’s ok, but wouldn’t it be better again if there was a way to harvest it all?

Well the answer to that question is, yes. Quite simply all you have to do is to attach some irrigation pipe to the overflow and then direct the rainwater to different parts of the garden to slowly soak into the soil. Many gardeners overlook the fact that one of the best places they can store excess rainwater is in the soil for their plants to make use of at their leisure. By doing this they are taking advantage of all of the rainwater their rain barrel diverter directs to their rain barrel and the best thing about it is, it’s so easy to do. All it really takes in to attach some irrigation pipe to the overflow of your rain barrel, route it through your garden, drill some holes in it where you want the water to go and then cover it with mulch. How easy is that?

This is a really easy solution to take advantage of all the rainwater you rain barrel collects. But the question still needs to asked, is this the best way? Recently I was on a rainwater harvesting forum where the question was posed by a member who was very serious about rainwater harvesting.

Are rain barrels for second use and are they impractical? When I read this I thought, this is a very good point and I must say I tend to agree.

Diverting rainwater from the overflow of you rain barrel directly to your garden is definitely more effective that diverting it somewhere where it will be wasted. But wouldn’t it be better again if your rain barrels were a part of a larger rainwater collection system? After all the main limitation of a rain barrel is that it fills quite quickly and then overflows, but imagine if you could divert water to a larger rainwater tank after the rain barrel was full. Then you could store the water for use later which is an even better option than diverting it straight into the soil.

So as far as rain barrels being impractical I would have to agree but only if they are installed so they don’t take advantage of the excess rainwater that overflows and is wasted. As far as them being second use I would also have to agree as larger rainwater tanks are definitely more efficient at storing more of the precious rainwater that falls on your roof. At the end of the day though, rain barrels can be used to harvest rainwater from a downspout that doesn’t have access to a larger rainwater tank so when used for this purpose they can perform a very important second use.

Rain Barrels these days are becoming more popular but only because people are now becoming much greener. They are an item that has been around for many, many years but unfortunately never really become as popular as they should or could be, mainly because they haven’t been the most efficient means of harvesting and storing rainwater.

Having the knowledge to make your rain barrel more efficient is what can make all the difference. So if you’re considering attaching a rain barrel diverter to a downspout to collect rainwater then go ahead and direct the overflow to your garden. It’s a great way to start.