Rain barrel

A rain barrel is a container for collecting and storing rainwater .

A wooden barrel as a rain barrel

In contrast to a cistern , the rain barrel is usually not permanently installed, but movable and can be removed, especially for the winter months. Furthermore, the capacity is usually significantly lower. After barrel-like constructions made of wood were common in the 1960s , there are almost exclusively rain barrels made of plastic today. Volume volumes between 200 and 500 liters are common. The water from the rain barrel is mainly used for watering the garden. The removal is usually done by hand with a watering can or a bucket , but special electric pumps are also available.

Only water from roof surfaces is collected, which is diverted via appropriate devices in the downpipe of the gutter and fed to the rain barrel.

A wide range of accessories is available for filtering and extracting the water.

hazards

• Animal welfare organizations report the dangers of drowning cats, squirrels and other small animals in uncovered rain barrels. Rain barrels should therefore always be covered for safety reasons.
• Rainwater tub water should never be used as drinking water, as it is possibly highly infectious and may have absorbed pollutants or heavy metals from the roof drainage system.
• Mosquitoes like to use rain barrels filled with water to lay their eggs. This can result in a mosquito plague and diseases can also be transmitted by mosquitoes. To prevent mosquitos from breeding as possible, it is advisable to keep the rain barrels covered at all times.

See also

• Rainwater management
• Professional association for operational and rainwater use
• IBC container
• Leaf separator

Web links

Wiktionary: rain barrel  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Commons : rain barrel  - collection of images, videos, and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ^ Danger of the rain barrel ( memento from January 14, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
2. ↑ www.Eichhoernchen-Schutz.de ( Memento of the original from April 21, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
3. ^ Report of the Australian Broadcasting Company ABC
4. ↑ Ringo from Gartentipps.com: Destroying mosquito larvae in the rain barrel - Tips for prevention & control. Retrieved on July 2, 2017 (German). 
5. ↑ Avoid mosquito plagues: fight mosquitoes in the rain barrel . In: www.t-online.de . ( t-online.de [accessed on July 2, 2017]).