| To Barrels | | | | of soil and rock before it ends up in ground water |
| | | | aquifers, lakes or streams. Without rain barrels, this |
| | | | water goes straight into our sewers, often causing |
| Nevertheless, almost 40% of household H2O in | | | | overflows of raw sewage into the natural |
| Canada is used to water lawns and gardens. This is | | | | environment. |
| extraordinarily inefficient. It's also unnecessary. "Using | | | | Setting up a rain barrel is simple. They're available at |
| a rain barrel to catch water flowing from eaves | | | | most Home Hardware and Home Building Centre |
| troughs is a simple, cheap and effective way to | | | | locations for anywhere from $75 for a basic model |
| water our lawns and gardens," Derril Linseman, | | | | to $150 for the deluxe variety. High-end barrels come |
| Product Manager at Home Hardware is quick to point | | | | equipped with screen filters, overflow hoses and |
| out. In fact, if your town bans watering during the | | | | taps. |
| dry season, a rain barrel may be the only way to get | | | | Once you've got your barrel, simply remove the |
| your greenery the water it needs. | | | | bottom section of your eaves trough's downspout |
| Rainwater is air-temperature, oxygenated and | | | | and set the barrel underneath. Then attach plastic |
| unchlorinated - all of which make it better for plants | | | | tubing or flexible piping to the bottom of the spout |
| than municipal tap water. As an added bonus, rain | | | | to direct water straight into your barrel. It's really |
| barrels divert rainwater from our sewers onto porous | | | | that simple. And the benefits are almost |
| ground. This means that it gets filtered through layers | | | | immeasurable. |