Lebanon Stormwater Department
Public Education and Outreach

What is a Rain Barrel?

According to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, a rain barrel is a water tank which is used to collect and store rain water runoff, typically from rooftops via rain gutters. Rain barrels are devices for collecting and maintaining harvested rain.

	Rain barrels are installed to make use of rain water for later use, reduce mains water use for economic or environmental reasons, and aid self-sufficiency.
Stored water may be used for watering gardens, agriculture, flushing toilets, in washing machines and for washing cars especially when other water supplies are unavailable, expensive, or of poor quality, and that adequate care is taken that the water is not contaminated or the water is adequately filtered. Many homes use rain barrels to harvest minute quantities of water for landscaping/gardening applications.

Rain water is usually soft and free of dissolved minerals. This untreated water is great for your indoor plants, your garden and lawn, or washing your car. You may need to add a filter to keep out leaves and debris.

Do not use collected water for drinking, cooking or bathing unless you have a proper filter.

You may need to put a mosquito killer or filter in your barrel; these will not harm your plants. Or you could put a gold fish or Siamese Fighting Fish in and let them have at it.

Check out the attached website for some great information to help you learn more about rain barrels and harvesting rain water.

http://www.rainbarrelguide.com

When you are ready to purchase your rain barrel contact the Lebanon Stormwater Department at 765.482.8843. We have rain barrels in stock and ready for use and we are making them available to the public for our cost. Give us a call to get started harvesting rain water today!

For a greater selection of rain barrels check out local home improvement stores, gardening centers or on-line stores such as http://www.cleanairgardening.com/rainbarrels.html.