Rain Barrels

Rain barrels collect and temporarily store rainwater to maximize its environmental and landscape value.

Rainwater is often treated as a nuisance or waste product. Rooftops, streets, paved areas, and landscapes are designed to move stormwater (rainwater and snowmelt) away as quickly as possible. In towns and cities, stormwater is directed into storm drains and underground pipes through which it flows directly to streams, rivers, and lakes, taking sediment, fertilizer, oil, litter, and other pollutants with it. In nearly all cases, stormwater runoff is not cleaned at a water treatment facility before being discharged into waterways.

Rainwater harvesting treats rainwater as a valuable resource to be collected and used, rather than conveyed away. Rain barrels, generally 50- to 100-gallon containers, are a traditional method of rainwater harvesting. They are typically used to collect and temporarily store rainwater from rooftops using the gutter and downspout system. Collected rainwater is most often used to water landscape or container plants, or diverted to planted areas for infiltration into the soil.