Rain Barrell Use?

The home page has this article so I copied it with hopes for a lively discussion here. The President Elect in his first speech asked that every American get ready to help with sacrifices that we will all have to make in solveing the energy problems along with other issues but we won't address that stuff.

This is interesting because where I live, the mayors have created a "green" coalition and are implimenting every way possible to help the city and county to go "green". 55 gallon plastic barrels are donated to any resident that is interested in retrofitting the barrels into rain barrels. The Master Gardeners are teaching classes and doing the retrofits.

So the discussion is how far should we be allowed to conserve. Many States have got laws on the books for HOA limits on restricting conservation methods but it still seems that HOAs want to make it difficult for the owners to impliment.

DON'T FORGET, THE CAROLINAS HAVE BEEN IN A 2 YEAR SEVERE DROUGHT

" While rain barrels conserve water, not everyone at St. Ives is happy about them. The St. Ives Homeowners Association newsletter says it all.
"The installation of these barrels will not be permitted in front of any property."
That's right. The HOA says rain barrels are not allowed in front of homes, even though Von Hedrich uses shrubbery to camouflage them.
"I wouldn't want to look at something that's an eyesore, but if you can't see it, then what's the problem?" Von Hedrich said.

Neighbor Franklin Clark said, "Anything to save water, rain barrel, or bath tub, I would be in favor of it."
Neighbor David Lang added, "I'm for it. Anyone who saves water."
Neighbor Lou Toffaletti disagreed, "I just think it would look tacky."
Von Hedrich says she feels the HOA is making up the rules as they go.
"I think there are a few in charge. I think there's some personal issues involved," she said. "I've been very frustrated in this community and I think some of that has been backlashed on us."

The HOA president didn't want to talk on camera. While there's nothing in the rules, he e-mailed us a statement saying, "The association supports water conservation ... Installations will not be permitted on the front of any property. They will be permitted on the rear of the house only."

Sheliah,

Thanks for the good response. Another issue in rain barrell use is WHERE IS THE DOWNSPOUT AND WHICH ONE GIVES THE MOST RUNOFF? These are all factors in where to place them, just as dish antennas need to work efficiently from the right location. I am a certified rain barrel ambassador for Hamilton County, which the mayor designated our group as we do the traveling to locations for teaching. I think that this is another future issue for all HOAs to deal with (unless you live in Hawaii or Washington State)

Okay Donna, now you really have me wondering..........

What did it take to become a "certified rain barrel ambassador for Hamilton County"? You have way too much free time on your hands girlfriend.

Dana

As this thread has reached it's sixth post, it will now be closed per RW's wishes.

any further postings here will be redundant, self serving, or useless.

this is a public service announcement brought to you on behalf of others.

Donna,

I would just love to have a rain barrel because that would mean we do get rain! As you know, AZ is NOT noted for our rainfall!

BTW, I always heard rainwater is the best thing to wash one's hair in. But, of course, that may only have applied to the days when rainwater wasn't polluted!

That sounds great Donna, you are a breath of fresh air. And you definitely are coming up with new ideas to fix old problems.

Way to go.

Dana

I need a technical interpretation of the RW RULE: Is the limit 6 total replies to an OP, or is it 6 replies by a given correspondent?

Anyway, we are currently using a rain barrel. Actually, a big garbage can, but rain barrel sounds more…sophisticated.

Apparently, in violation of our ByLaws, a resident bird not only built a nest in one of our 2nd floor rain gutters, but also did not remove it after its chicks, if any, had taken flight. Said nest, having become compacted after a few rains, managed to block normal egress for future water, causing said water to flow over said gutter onto the ground, from which location it soaked in adjacent to our poured cement concrete foundation. Said soaking, in turn, coupled with the natural expansion cracks in said foundation and unusual stress placed on the rubber wall, led to serious leakage into our basement.

After a Chinese fire drill including the home warranty company, the builder, the rubber wall manufacturer and the installer of said rubber wall/foundation, I am happy to report that, though under no contractual obligation, Owner of installer dropped by, gave it a look, and sent someone out a day later to fix all three of our leakage points. A +3 hour undertaking. No charge.

“Why?” I asked Owner.

“Because I don’t like it when any of my work turns out less than excellent.”

You could have knocked me over with a feather. So rare an occurrence.

And tomorrow, up an extension later to remove said obstruction. And if I find that bird, you can bet there’s going to be a fine leveled.

Note: My use of the term “Chinese fire drill” is in no way meant as a racial/ethnic slur, and my apologies to anyone taking offense.

errata:

I was, of course, referring to the "RW" Rule, not he "RK" Rule, of which I have no knowledge nor reference.

Also, my reference to "feather" was used as a generality, not in reference to the specific bird to which I referred.

I have never seen a post from JohnK1 nor JohnK2.

Note to Dana:

We have a Misc/Unknown/Underfunded line in our budget which could cover legal expenses.

And thank you for being amused.

RW said on a previous thread that we should all stop posting after six replies to a thread. Too many ideas and too much discussion. I guess those of us who work can't reply to posts (after work) if they've already reached the six posting limits.

Of course that doesn't work. RW always has some great comments....and I believe some of his have have been 7th or 8th. We really don't want to stop posting. Sometimes it take 20 or 30 replies before SOMEONE hits it on the head!

Donna - nice timing for this. There was an article in today's paper about rain water harvesting: http://www.idahostatesman.com/localnews/story/564279.html
One of the things I found interesting was that in Colorado, you don't have to worry about the HOA complaining about a rain barrel because the state will come after you. "In Colorado, guiding water from a roof or downspout to anywhere other than the ground, like a barrel or cistern, can result in a $500 fine." I can kind of understand it because of water-rights issues (water rights can be a big deal in the dryer parts of the country), but I think the states that have these restrictions have kind of missed the point here. It would seem to me that people who use rainwater would be using less water from the rest of the system.

Very interesting concept here!
Our association recently contracted to have our gutters cleaned (townhouses) and discovered that our system goes into dry wells which are clogged and hence the expense will be considerably more than what was budgeted.
In addition, we just got hit with a significant increase from our municipal water department.
I'm thinking a rain barrel system would kill two birds, negate cleaning out the drywells and conserve on water for sprinklering the lawns.
BUT, I'm wondering, what happens to all that water in the barrels in the winter when everything freezes?
And if the water goes elsewhere in the winter, where does it go?
Most of our water damage problems happen in the winter when things freeze, then you get a rainstorm and the water has no where to go.

Bob,

IMO, some research is required b/4 undertaking the project of installing rain barrels on each townhouse. Who is going to empty the barrels and at what cost? What will be the procedure for using the water to water grass, trees and plants and who will perform the task and at what cost? What will be the exact savings on the water bill? Rainwater will still fall in areas where there are no rain barrels and flow into the areas where the dry wells are located. Therefore, the dry wells will still have to be cleaned periodically. Be careful that this plan is not "penny-wise, pound-foulish".

Donna,

Thx! You've reinforced my point quite nicely! :-)

Donna - I stumbled across another website today about water harvesting that I thought you might be interested in:
http://www.harvesth2o.com/pedaling.shtml

Robert,

Here is a website for that song............

http://kids.niehs.nih.gov/lyrics/playmate.htm

Dana

Thanks to all. Now that I know and recall more about it, I wonder what I want to know for. Anyone still have a cellar door, where the snakes use to curly up in the sun and a frog or two hoping AROUND IN THE SHADE?

PattiM,
I am afraid someone has beat you to this idea of decrotive Rain Barrels.

Check out Google of Wikopedia for "Rain Barrels."