Building A Rain Barrel – Arlington VA Greenovation Chapter #3
Every summer we go through periods of drought in Northern Virginia. The grass starts to get a little browner and the garden starts to wilt. I never felt comfortable hooking up the hose and sprinkler as it seems like such a waste of water. This spring I started shopping for a rain barrel. Rain barrels can be placed under the a downspout to catch rainwater. Using the stored rainwater for gardening needs, saves on utility costs and can also prevent basement flooding. Using a rain barrel allows you to decide where the water is directed and put to the best use. I have even heard that rain water is better for your lawn and garden because it does not contain chlorine.
When I started shopping for a rain barrel I came up with the following results:
Home Depot didn’t know what I was talking about.
Bills True Value Garden Center (4756 Lee Highway, Arlington, VA) – had them at a cost of $139 for the 54 gallon and $169 for the 75 gallon.
Amicus (4080A Howard Ave, Kensington, MD) – had them at a cost of $70 for a 30 gallon, $105 for a 55 gallon and $250 for a 80 gallon.
Not bad, but I wanted to see if I could do better without having to ship it across the country. I found a Rain Barrel building workshop at the 
Walter Reed Community Center in Arlington. The cost was only $50 for a 50 gallon barrel. They also offered a pre-built option for $60.
The workshop started with a little education about local water conservation and then detailed instructions for assembling our rain barrels. It was an easy process and a great use of these old 50 gallon pickle barrels. I highly recommend the workshop, but recommend that you sign up early. They fill up very quickly. You can visit the following website to find rain barrel workshops in Northern VA. http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/nvswcd/rainbarrels.htm
One of the major concerns are mosquitoes. Rest assured that the rain barrels are capped with fiberglass screen that allows water in, but keeps mosquitoes from getting into the barrel to lay their eggs. However, if you are concerned about mosquitoes breeding in your rain barrel, you can add half a Mosquito Dunk to the water in your barrel to kill mosquito larvae. Mosquito Dunks can be purchased at most garden supply stores.
Another concern is how it looks. I’ll be honest they are not the most attractive lawn ornament. We decided to paint ours as you can see from the photos below.
Good luck with your rain barrel!
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