The other exciting thing that happened last weekend was that Angela and I woke up early Saturday morning and lined up for two hours to get a subsidized rain barrel from the Region of Waterloo. This was the first year we took advantage of the program. The subsidized cost was $30, compared to the $90 retail price of a rain barrel.

After having the first one hooked up for a week, I decided to take advantage of a sale at Rona to pick up a second one, as well as to install a concrete patio stone to provide solid support for the first one. Using the rain gauge that the Region distributed with the rain barrels, I was able to determine that one quarter inch of rain is enough to fill one rain barrel. So, now that I have two, I should be able to handle a full half inch of rain before they start overflowing. I'm actually looking forward to the next heavy rain fall so that I can test them out! Exciting!

The Region of Waterloo has declared a Stage 2 Water Supply Emergency that will be in effect all summer, which somewhat restricts water usage, especially for lawns. So, in theory, with the mighty power of these two rain barrels, I will be able to supply a little extra water to my lawn during dry spells.

Technical details: This photo was shot with my Rebel XT + kit lens at 28mm, ISO 100, f/8 for 1/40th of a second.

Comments

I remember lining up with Kim in '05 to get one of those rain barrels.	They
work very well, I think Kim was able to water all her plants and flowers mostly
from the rain water.