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Put a rain barrel under my downspout in March, and the math did not work out how I planned
I hooked up a 55 gallon barrel to the back gutter on my garage back in March, mostly to cut down on watering the tomato beds. First big storm it filled in about 25 minutes and then just sat there overflowing, so the barrel was basically full after one rain. By July the water smelled like a swamp and my wife made me dump it, which felt like I wasted all that setup work. Turns out the real problem was I had no second barrel and no shade on the thing, so I was growing algae instead of saving water. Anyone in a hot climate run two barrels in series or bury them partly to keep the water cool? Trying to figure out if it's worth adding a third before next spring.
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wesleyb2012h ago
My neighbor buried his two barrels halfway and his water stayed clear all summer, so shade plus buried is the move.
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