I feel like I need to put this somewhere...

I've been sadly distracted from my model adventures for the last couple of weeks. Trying to get stuff around the house, inside and outside. Re-painting the living/dining area, trying to do yard work in-between torrential rain storms etc. The grass got so bloody high that when the weather finally broke last week I had to trim it three times! The first time was done holding the mover up on its back wheels lest it clog from the uber sized grass clippings. So the grass is cut, the living room is almost done... just some trim work and then finally the irony of it all I got some rain barrels installed on my eaves.

The City of Toronto is enacting a by-law that will require all single home dwelling owners to disconnect their eaves troughs from the weeping tile around the foundation of the homes. Presently the weeping tile from our homes is connected to the city storm drains. They - The City - say that this is to minimize run off from rain storms into the city's water treatment systems... sure, I guess. Long and the short of it is I don't want to get fined by the City next year because I didn't do this. :| Besides there is something almost benign about collecting rain water to use for your flower beds and garden. The rain barrels are food grade 55 gallon plastic drums. They cost me 50 bucks each, which I consider a steal as the fancy, commercially available ones at Lowes or Home Depot run about 70 - 100 dollars which is ridiculous!

Not exactly an easy job in my case. The eaves on the North side of my house was located dead center along the wall right next to the back door. So I had to traverse a ladder more times then I dare to recall to relocate the downspout and drop the eaves along the wall towards the back N/E corner of the house. The downspout on the South side, thankfully was located closer to the front corner of the house and just involved a simple chop and modification. Some forty five degree elbows plus a small piece to reach the water "intake" at the top and presto. The rain barrels are up off the ground about 10 inches supported by some cinder blocks and a single patio stone to sit on.

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My gals posing with the one install on the infamous North corner of the house.

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The second one which was a piece of cake compared to the first one.

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...and just in the nick of time. About an hour after I cleaned up and put away my tools this bad boy of a storm front came rolling in. It rained buckets for about an hour and a half. At one point during the middle I wandered outside with an umbrella to see how effective my set up was working. The water was literally spewing out of the downspout and the barrels were already full to the point that water was pouring out of the overflow hose.

Today I am a little sun burnt and sore but happy with a job well done.

Thanks for looking.

Sure they want em to save run off butt also support your local blood drive takers if you know them lil critters im talking about

Those chore lists do interfere, don't they...

railroader9731 Wrote:Sure they want em to save run off butt also support your local blood drive takers if you know them lil critters im talking about

Them li'l critters will become the "latest BUZZ"

Nice work. Seems to me as though the city is kinda goofy. Are the rain barrels required? To me all the city is saving is x number of barrels full of water. Once they fill up, the overflow winds up in the storm sewer anyway.

Tom

Re: rain barrels and storm sewers.

Having worked for the water division in the City of Ottawa, I know that we have a huge problem with:

1) Supplying enough water in the summer for all those outdoor activities
2) Combined sewer overflow.

While the point about saving only "a barrel's worth" is accurate in terms of #1, disconnecting the rainwater from the sewers is especially important where you have combined sewers. Combined sewers are very common, having been constructed far and wide in many cities. Basically, the sewage flows inside a channel in the pipe. Small amounts of rain stay in another channel in the same pipe. But when there's a big rainfall, the rainwater fills the entire pipe, flushing the raw sewage into the river or lake.

Since rainwater is relatively clean, it is better to let it soak into the ground, or at least be handled by a storm sewer that does not overlap with the sanitary (sewage) sewer. That's most likely the reason to disconnect the downspouts from the sewer.


Andrew

Cute kids, Tetters!

I'm wishing we could get some rain. We're to the point where we are watering our concrete foundations! The clay soil is shrinking, cracks all over the ground, and this has been known to crack a slab here and there.

We don't have rain gutters, but it would be cool to collect the rain water and save it for use during dry times.

Thanks for the clarification, Andrew. It definitely changed my thinking.

Tom

FiatFan Wrote:Thanks for the clarification, Andrew. It definitely changed my thinking.

Tom

Mine too as well. I mean I did more or less to conform to the by-law and to avoid a fine, however did so with a healthy dose of cynicism. The idea of raw sewage getting flushed into the lake during a down pour, and we've had a lot of rain so far this year, however has given me a good visual idea of problem being faced by the city. And when you have a city of millions I can certainly get an idea as to the scope of the problem.

So now, I feel better that I finally did it.

Gary S Wrote:Cute kids, Tetters!

I'm wishing we could get some rain. We're to the point where we are watering our concrete foundations! The clay soil is shrinking, cracks all over the ground, and this has been known to crack a slab here and there.

We don't have rain gutters, but it would be cool to collect the rain water and save it for use during dry times.

Thanks Gary! They are 11 and 7 years old. Guess which one is the trouble maker?

Re: your drought conditions. Watering your foundation is a new one. I'm being to think that is actually how you "built" your layout building. Planted a foundation and watered it until a building grew out of it.

Sumpter250 Wrote:

railroader9731 Wrote:Sure they want em to save run off butt also support your local blood drive takers if you know them lil critters im talking about

Them li'l critters will become the "latest BUZZ"

If we are referring to mosquitoes buzzing around, the barrels have mesh nets that fit over the intake opening. This prevents the little blood suckers from flying inside the barrel and laying their eggs.

tetters Wrote:

Gary S Wrote:Thanks Gary! They are 11 and 7 years old. Guess which one is the trouble maker?

Gotta be the youngest, right?

FiatFan Wrote:Thanks for the clarification, Andrew. It definitely changed my thinking.

Tom

tetters Wrote:Mine too as well. I mean I did more or less to conform to the by-law and to avoid a fine, however did so with a healthy dose of cynicism. The idea of raw sewage getting flushed into the lake during a down pour, and we've had a lot of rain so far this year, however has given me a good visual idea of problem being faced by the city. And when you have a city of millions I can certainly get an idea as to the scope of the problem.

So now, I feel better that I finally did it.

Glad the info helped.

Andrew

Here in Melbourne we have separate drains for the sewerage and storm water, although some d@#%heads are know to connect illegaly their stormwater to the sewer and vice versa.

For a while in the '70's and '80's councils were actively discouraging the use of rainwater tanks because "they were ugly", then as the population increased etc, the state government and the water authorities were actively encouraging their use to reduce the amount of tap water used on gardens. We had major water restrictions in place until just recently due to a prolonged [10 year] drought and had even started to build a desalination plant. Then the rains came, which turned into floods, leaving parts of North-Easten Victoria under water for months.

I love a sunburnt country, a land of droughts and flooding rains. Boy did Dorothy Mac Kellar get that one right.

Mark

In Arizona, interest in rainwater harvesting has increased enough that people are investigating whether rainwater should be "appropriable". As of now, if water flows off of a roof or manmade structure, it is rainwater and non-appropriable and one does not need a permit to use it for domestic uses. But, once the rainwater collects on the ground and runs off into a natural channel, no matter how small, it is surface water and can only be used under a permit from the state. yes, water is just that scarce here