Reduce water consumption with a rain barrel
By Terasa M. Lott, Water Resources Agent, Clemson Extension
As citizens of the United States, we are very fortunate to have easy and relatively inexpensive access to safe, treated water just by turning on the tap. So far today, I used that treated water to drink, shower, flush the toilet, brush my teeth, and make a pot of coffee. These and other indoor uses account for roughly 70% of the water used in the average home. The other 30% is used outdoors for things like irrigation. This equates to about 210 gallons of water used inside and 90 gallons used outside on a daily basis. That might not sound like much until you consider what that equates to over the course of a year: 76,650 gallons used indoors and 32,850 gallons used outdoors.
Using treated water for irrigation is convenient and who doesn’t love convenience? However, it doesn’t really make sense. The reason we treat water is to ensure it’s safe for human consumption. Your turfgrass and plants don’t need, and in fact would probably be happier without the added chlorine, which is used as a disinfectant.
So what’s the alternative? Collect the rain that runs off your roof and store it in a rain barrel. You’d be amazed at how much water can be collected. Let’s look at the math. For every square foot of roof space, .6 gallons is generated per inch of rain. That means that if you’re using a single barrel, as little as 90 square feet of roof should generate enough runoff to fill the barrel in a 1-inch storm.
The benefits of rain barrels extend beyond proving chlorine-free water. Using stored rainwater instead of treated water reduces the demand on the municipal source, leaving more water in our aquifers and surface waters. This can also equate to dollars saved on your water bill. Finally, collecting rainwater reduces runoff, which helps protect the health and safety of the waterways we enjoy for fishing, swimming, and boating.
If you’d like to give rainwater harvesting a try, the Florence Darlington Stormwater Consortium is currently hosting a rain barrel sale with pickup on June 18. The Ivy rain barrel is made of 100% recycled plastic and comes with everything a homeowner needs to started collecting and reusing rainwater. Barrels can easily be daisy chained (connected) for additional storage capacity.
For more information or to place an order, visit www.rainbarrelprogram.org/fdsc.
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