Rainbarrel Workshop coming to Broadlands

Hi all,

The Loudoun Soil and Water Conservation group has put together a Rainbarrel Workshop for Broadlanders only. This is a great chance to put one together before the holidays. All the materials will be provided and you will be able to take home your barrel that evening.

Details

Location: The Boyd School-Broadlands
Date: Wednesday, December 3rd, 6:30 p.m. It should take about an hour to complete
Cost-$50 -- you must sign up (see form on HOA front page) and send in check or cash.

Please PM with questions.

Lori Seidmeyer
Broadlands Certified Wildlife Habitat Committee
Master Naturalist in Training

 

Here is the link to the form

http://www.broadlandshoa.org/files/RainBarrelFlyer1208.pdf

 

Sign me up for 2 ! For those of you that may be interested, decent rain barrels can cost around $200. So don't miss this opportunity.

 

My mom paid $35 for a fairfax county class... she got a nice barrel and hardware too... she said it was a former pickle barrel.. =)

 

Yes the prices of these workshops that sells the former pickle barrels are going up because the demand is going up and supply is not there. But it is still cheaper then getting it from a store.

 

I believe these will be former syrup barrels. They have been cleaned very well...I wanted to be sure

Lori

 

Just a heads up...These will require approval from the modifications subcommittee. The subcommittee is working on guidelines, but in the meantime, complete an application - located here -
http://www.broadlandshoa.org/files/Mod_App_2008_0.doc
- attach a photo of the rain barrel and a photo of where you plan to locate it and submit it to the Modifications Subcommittee at the HOA office or email the application and the photos to me at mburns@broadlandshoa.com

 

does anyone know off hand if you can use a rain barrel on the pipe from the sump pump?

 

I just called and spoke to Jay at the Soil and Water Conservation group about this. Good question! Congrats, they never had anyone ask that before. He has a question for you however. How far off the ground does the end of the pipe come? The rainbarrels are approx. 3 1/2 to 4 ft high. The water comes into the top, so if you could rig something up with some elbow tubing, that would work.

He did say that is a very good use of that water and would be interested to know how that works.

Lori

 

Oops, my bad, actually I think we will have to hold off on that one regarding the sump pump. I believe the HOA guidelines will only allow the rainbarrels to be used on existing downspouts.

 

Lori.... I think that was a buzzkill! Might be worth re-visiting though, as I am not sure really why we (the HOA) would limit the use of a rainbarrel in the case of a sump pump. It would be good to know some of the thinking behind this... I mean, is it for cosmetic reasons?

Also, on the pipe hight issue. When the pipe comes out of my house, it is about 2 feet off the ground, and has an elbow connector that immediately brings it to ground level, with the opening again at an elbow joint. I currently use a standard plastic run-off piece to extend this into the mulch and grass.

To me, the trick would have been how to get this into the barrel given the height differences. My yard slopes down, away from the house in that area but I do not want a barrel sitting in the lawn of course. And as I checked internet resources, it seems like it is being done by others with good success. Most sump pumps have enough power to push the water up into a barrel (no more than 5 feet up), and as long as there is a check valve installed between the pump and the barrel it would help with back-flow.

And I would think the water coming from the sump pump is cleaner that the roof water, which over time, would have small roof pieces and tree debris.

 

I am sure there are many different ways to hook this up and get it going but I think there has to be some kind of hose and or connection system to use the water. I think as long as the guidelines stressed the appearance aspect and illustrations or pictures of products were provided... that would work for most applications. Our approval process works pretty much that way now....

And for those wanting to get a head start... here is a great video. This is how I was hoping to get this installed, using a diverter on the downspout.

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/video/0,,20045365,00.html

 

I've just received HOA approval for my new rain barrel:

http://www.smartplanet.com/reviews/household/10000711/overview/butt-butt.htm

 

Will there be another opportunity for a rainbarrel class/session? I am having surgery on Dec 3 and can't make it, but have been wanting to install a rainbarrel for months.
The price is right, and I love DIY projects....

Thanks

 

Provided we can get our hands on the barrels, we would like to have another workshop in the spring.

Good luck on your surgery!

Lori

 

Just wanted to post a reminder about the workshop this Wednesday. There is space available for this. It's a great winter project so when spring rolls around, you're set to start storing run off.

By the way, I can't remember if I mentioned this, but the workshop should only be about an hour long.

Lori