Other Safety and Maintenance Concerns
Water stored in any kind of container represents a risk for small children. Children can drown in as little just a few inches water. Additionally, animals both wild and domestic may become trapped and drown in your barrels if uncovered. Therefore, you should never use an open container for rainwater collection. Make sure you have some way to cover the barrel with a screen or a top. Standing water is also where mosquitoes breed best. As the West Nile virus and other diseases are important concerns these days, you’ll need to take appropriate measures to deter mosquitoes from breeding in your rain barrels. It only takes about ten days for mosquitoes to breed, so you should ideally empty the water in less than ten days. You should also use a fine screen over the top of the barrel so the mosquitoes can’t reach the water in the first place.
The type of barrel you use is also important. Make sure it’s a food-grade container that was made to hold liquid. You cannot cut corners and simply use a trashcan because a common trashcan will not withstand the pressure of the water for long. The location of your rain barrel is also important. Make sure you place it on level and stable ground. When your rain barrel is at maximum capacity, it will weigh quite a bit and tipping is risk on un-level ground.
Depending on what part of the country you live in, we recommend disconnecting your rain barrels in the winter if temperatures in your area regularly reach freezing or below. Constant freezing and thawing of the water in your rain barrel may weaken the material or cause cracks. Store your barrels upside down in the winter to keep them clean for future use.
A final bit of advice for all rainwater catchment systems is to always monitor the rain barrels for overflow. If, for example, you leave for vacation for a week and haven’t taken precautions to avoid the overflow of water, you may end up with damage to the foundation of your home or other related problems over time.
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
what can i put in my rain barrels to stop bacteria/mosquito larvae from forming without harming the value of the water?
@mary W
You can use nontoxic mosquito dunks. These are suitable for fish ponds and horse troughs, so they won’t harm the value of the water.
http://www.cleanairgardening.com/mosquito1.html
Alternatively, you can put a goldfish in the barrel, as long as you are always going to keep enough water in the barrel to sustain the goldfish. This one is a higher maintenance kind of way to handle it, because you have the responsibility of keeping the fish healthy.
If you read the comment on the “Safe Rainwater Harvesting Catchments” page, you’ll see how a reader has described how she uses that method with a fish.
It gets very cold in the winter where I live. Do I need to empty my rain barrel for the winter or can I leave some water in there so I have some water in the spring? thanks
@spruce
I would recommend leaving the drain open when the temperature begins to dip below freezing. Although you might be okay, it’s possible that the water will expand enough when it freezes to crack your barrel, ruining it.
Can you equip the rain barrel with a filtering system so you can drink the water?
@Margaret,
While I am not familiar with a specific filtration system that fits a rain barrel, yes, you can drink the water if it has been purified.
How do you purify the rain water?
@Julie, I assume you me to purify to drink. While it is possible it’s not the best idea. Roofing material, animal droppings and other hazardous items are likely in the water. You would need to get a good filtration system to clean the water for drinking.
We live in Seattle and get moss growth on the roof. If we treat the roof with a zinc sulfate powder, for how long (or after how many rain events) should I wait to reconnect my rain barrel? I am of course assuming that the zinc run-off should not go into my rain barrel because the water might be toxic to my plants and veggies?
Thank you.
@Karen, With the amount of rain you receive in the Seattle area the zinc sulfate powder would likely be washed off within a few weeks, however you may want to wait a month then reconnect your rain barrel and have the water tested to be sure. I doubt after a month the concentration would harm your plants but if it gives you peace of mind have the water tested. There are other treatments for moss you may want to consider. Such as running a few copper wires across your shingles, this is an alternative to chemicals. The wire should be run every 4 to 5 feet horizontally. Something to consider.