It has been raining cats & dogs recently in Shah Alam and the water level in my 3 rain barrels had hardly gone down much. Nowadays, instead of using the water on plants, I'm using it to wash my porch, car and err, also my dog!
I have found that plants thrive when watered with rainwater and my fishes (and dog!) prefer it too. For sure the absence of minerals and chlorine is a reason.
I am using 3 blue plastic barrels that previously stored chemicals in powder form.
Capacity-wise, the 2 shorter barrels fills 120 liters each and the taller barrel 160 liters.
It was quite difficult to find these barrels at our local hardware stores. At the end, the shorter barrels were sourced from a neighbour while the other from a friend working in a chemical factory.
From the existing drainpipe, I had cut off the lower end and re-use the 'elbow' part as a spout.
Ideally, it is much better to actually connect the drainpipe into the barrel by cutting a hole in the cover and connecting a tap (spigot) at the side of the barrel to access the rainwater.
Since I am not crafty with drills and connecting bits and pieces of pipes, I left the barrels as-is and take the covers off when collecting rainwater and manually connect the drainpipe 'spout' onto the cut-off point.
I will wait for the barrels to fill-up and then re-position the 'spout' to drain directly into the bath-tub pond if so needed.
With the current tropical thunderstorms and heavy rains, the barrels fill pretty fast.
These pictures were taken this evening all within 10 minutes.
Notice the small trickle of water from the 'spout' in the 1st and 2nd pictures.
Then the bigger gush of water from the 3rd picture and the "mini waterfall" in the last 2 pictures.
All excess water is channeled into a make-shift washbasin placed under the drainpipe and thereafter into the main house drains.
These rain barrels have been in service for a mere 2 years and I hope they will last for a long time, haha.
For a look at a much more presentable rainwater harvesting system and cute rain barrels, please visit Myrtle Glen.
These rain barrels have been in service for a mere 2 years and I hope they will last for a long time, haha.
For a look at a much more presentable rainwater harvesting system and cute rain barrels, please visit Myrtle Glen.
I apologise for the quality of the pictures in my blog as I am using the 3MP camera in my handphone/mobile to take pictures. It is handy and small enough to bring around with me in the garden, haha.
Till the next post, please have a great week ahead!