Hi folks.

I am winding down my day after getting a lot of work done in the garden and working on making a new rain barrel. I bought one of those industrial size food containers( I think it have olives in it) and put a tap at the bottom. I am waiting for the sealer to cure and then I am going to apply a weldbond wash over it to help seal it even better. I have a couple ideas in my head on how to filter the water through a screen that will be self-cleaning, mosquito proof and will keep leaves and other debris out of the water. It cost me $15.00 for the barrel( I had a friend deliver it to me for free),$.25 for the tap from a yardsale, normally costing about $8.00-$10.00 from a hardware store, I had some silicone leftover from another project as well as some weldbond. It would be pennies worth that I used. For a round figure I would say I paid $16.00 out of pocket for this project. If I had to pay for delivery and paid full price for the other items it would be closer to $35.00 (Canadian money). Lets even say $40.00 as the total cost( since I do not know exactly how much the filter will cost),that would still be a bargain if I have water to put on my plants at a time when water is rationed. That is about 1/2 or 1/3 the price for a store bought rainbarrel.

We installed a store bought rainbarrel at my girlfriend's place and we have been using it alot since we put it in last year. I am not sure if it has paid for it's self yet, but it certainly cuts down on the water bill and hauling water long disances. Maybe just the chiropractor fees saved paid for it.

On a closely related topic, I got a small child's bathtub to put inside my tub. I used to run in several times a day and take a shower, now I just do a quick clean of my legs, feet and arms in the smaller tub and I use less water. If I am just rinsing my self off, I even take that little amount of water to the front herb garden and water the plants there or dump it in my open( with a screen) water barrel. The screen is not on tight enough to keep out mosquitoes, so that is why I am creating the new rainbarrel and using the old one as a produce holder( I have pear and cherry trees out back).

I look foreward to any energy and water saving hints anyone else has out there. I will let you know how it turns out and take a few pictures of the finished product.

Michael J. Kaer
Author of "What Money Can't Buy"