Comments on: A Home Kitchen Garden Rain Barrel

By: admin

admin — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 20:56:23 +0000

I’d recognize mosquito babies if I saw them, but after that I’m fairly ignorant about insects. In the United States, mosquitoes carry enough diseases that I recommend not having rain barrels open to the elements. Mosquito babies start in standing water and swim around a bit like tiny tadpoles. Even rainwater captured in an abandoned tire provides a place for them to grow.

Here’s a link to a page with photos of mosquito larvae. If the things in your barrels look like these, you’re incubating blood-suckers!

If mosquitoes are common in Ireland, you’d do well to cover your rain barrels. Perhaps you can stretch a fine mesh cloth or nylon screen across them. Or, find a rigid cover, cut a hole in it for a water inlet, and stretch mesh over the hole.

By: J Brown

J Brown — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 17:42:08 +0000

I live in Ireland and have 8 such barrels around my house. Nothing fancy with taps,etc., just open barrels. My well can run out of water in the summer and the barrels serve to water the garden, flush the toilet, etc. I have no covers on them, and have noticed that in 2 of the barrels, there are tiny, brown mite-like things swimming about underwater. Do you know what this could be?

By: Mike C

Mike C — Fri, 22 May 2009 03:14:48 +0000

Hello. Thank you for the post of my blog. I had a few phone calls on the solar charged rain barrel pump. Much appreciated. Mike C.

By: admin

admin — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 21:58:12 +0000

Of course, this depends on the design of the rain barrel and the downspout. As you can see in the photos in my post, the downspout connects to the rain barrel rather than hanging over it; insects would have to start on the roof of the house and travel the downspout into the barrel. Their progeny would then have to reverse the course to get out.

If you have a covered rain gutter, debris shouldn’t be a problem. Otherwise, there are inserts to put in the top of the downspout to prevent leaves from washing in.

I’ll plan several posts about installing rain barrels and will explore differences in design. There are many valid approaches. Doesn’t matter which you use as long as you get a rain barrel and put it to use!

By: Cascata rain barrels

Cascata rain barrels — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 19:45:29 +0000

Another important feature for a rain barrel is some kind of mesh screen guard to prevent debris and insect larvae from breeding in any stagnant water inside.