I love when I can modify things to fit my life better, which brings me to blog about my rain barrel. I decided to buy one through Wickman Gardens last year ($70) so that I could water my garden, houseplants, hose off grandma (just kidding) and other things in the yard. Conserving resources and money is always a fun challenge to me. My first step was to choose a central location with respect to everything that needs to be watered. I then took a saw to my downspout, cutting it off a few feet above my raised rain barrel.
Note: the higher you raise the barrel, the better the water pressure is. So there was a two foot gap between the end of the sawed off downspout and the opening of the rain barrel, which is then where you attach the flexible downspout, which kinda feels like a slinky made from hard plastic. The water will flow through the fine mesh top, straining the large particulate out, but mosquito eggs can still drop through and harvest. I haven't had this problem, but a touch of olive oil to the surface of the water should prevent anything from growing.
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