We have two tanks - a thousand gallon one in the ground and a 500 gallon tank above ground. We collect the rain water in the large tank, then pump it up the hill to the smaller tank which is above the garden, then we gravity-feed the water down to soaker hoses in the garden. We usually have to start using it in August thru September. It doesn't last the whole 2 months, but it does help a lot. We have another 500 gallon tank that we intend to hook up. Just haven't got around to it yet. I'm not sure a small rain barrel would help a lot.

Here, as in Portland, and here's my problem:

Let's say Portland gets 3 feet of rain a year, and a smallish house with substantial eaves has a roof area of 1500 square feet. That's 4500 cubic feet of water and it equals 33,750 gallons. The amount even the big systems store is but a small fraction of this, and in Portland, water costs very little; your water bill is mainly sewer and rainwater runoff control.

So rainbarrels make sense if you realize there is little money to be saved, you are achieving a For years I had some amendment bins lidded with corrugated fiberglass and sloped the whole thing to catch water in a yard cart. Most of the cartloads were dumped into the street, but it was fun in springtime to use some of the water for seeds and new plantings, and to toss the big ice chunk during cold winters into the yard and watch it slowly melt for a week.

You're right, 80% of our rain falls at a time of year when plants can't use it. Unless you're talking vegetables/food production, the answer is easy.... don't landscape with thirsty plants.

The warming overcomes the cool and damp in July. Rained-on 4th of July events are the last hurrah of spring, which starts in Feb. here. But soils have also been warming and drying during this period, so that beds exposed to the sun and/or consisting of soil textures prone to drying will already be dusty by July if not watered before then.

Trees and shrubs make new growth in spring, early-blooming types in particular often send out shoots quite early. This is when types not adapted to dry summers or dry soils need to have abundant moisture in order to do their best.

I have also had the same thought about rain barrels -- useless here. We had very little rain this past winter and absolutely NONE in the past 2 months. It is very dry. The content of a rain barrel would be gone in a couple of days.

I haven't considered them worthwhile. The small barrels that are practical for an urban lot, that you put under the downspout from the roof gutter, are just too small to bother with compared to our irrigation season. The barrels fill up fast, sure, but they're only what, 55 gallons or so? that doesn't go far in the garden. Then your barrel is empty. Rain showers are few and far between in the summer so you wouldn't get water in your barrel very often.

If you just had a few pots to water maybe it would be enough. But not for any kind of garden.

These things make a lot more sense in places that get regular rain in the summer, like back east where it rains hard every week or two all summer long. Here the length of the dry season would require cisterns of hundreds of gallons, not little barrels you shove under the downspout.

We own a plumbing company and are experimenting with water conservation because our belief that climate change is real and will affect water overall in the NW. We put in a 1300 gallon underground tank and will be routing water off the roof for storage underground. If light does not hit the water it stays fresh and clear. We do have rainbarrels and the cost was offset by going to a local syrup manufacturer and taking old barrels and reconditioning them. We probably should have put in a larger tank. Rainbarrels are expensive but every savings of water we think is a good thing. We speak to friends in Europe and they use and keep every drop they can. Water off the roofs is conserved and used in gray water systems for irrigation and toilets. New developments are on the horizon. We just wish things could be speeded up a bit. Contact members of the Northwest Eco-Guild for more info. in your area.

Here is a link that might be useful: Information from NW Eco-Building Guild

Diverting "gray" water to your gardens is now, finally, legal in Oregon.

http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2009/06/reuse_of_bath_kitchen_water_on.html
by Harry Esteve, The Oregonian
Friday June 12, 2009, 10:44 AM

Reuse of bath, kitchen water on gardens now legal

SALEM -- Reusing bath, laundry and sink water used to be illegal in eco-friendly Oregon, but no more.

Gov. Ted Kulongoski signed a bill today that makes it OK to replumb your house to capture so-called "gray water" as a way to save water and dollars.

"This will allow us to water our garden with our bath water. It's very simple," said Brenna Bell, a citizen activist working to change state codes that block environmental practices.

House Bill 2080 worked its way through the Legislature despite concerns over health issues posed by soiled diapers and other contaminants. Kulongoski said the bill is needed as water grows more and more scarce in the West.

"Anything that pushes the sustainability agenda forward, I am willing to do," he said as he scrawled his signature on the bill.

Here is a link that might be useful: Reuse of bath, kitchen water on gardens now legal

My sister used to save her dishwashing water and dump it on her dahlias. She had the biggest, most beautiful dahlias you could imagine! And, they were totally bug free.

I'm of a like mind with the downspout rainbarrels. I have friends who use it for their houseplants. One can water all summer long from the hose and the plants look ok, but even one piddly shower of rainwater that barely wets the soil and they perk up more than anything the hose can offer.

I can imagine for housebound plants rainwater would be orgasmic.

... Don

I enjoyed the post about what is happenin Oregon. You guys rock! My husband and I visit regularly to go to nurseries and windsurf. We visit then return home to Washington. The arguments against going more green are kind of silly. Last year we had a project to help someone put in composting toilets....the local gov would not allow it due to codes. It got kind of ridiculous. We hope things change and soon! Thanks for the link cascadians!

I live in PDX and have a "dinky 65 gal. under the spout" rain barrel. ;^) I got it late this winter (yay BD!). While I totally get what you're saying about our weather we did have a good rain this weekend that filled it back up. I know this will become more of a rare occurrence especially after the fifth of July when we really start to warm up but I've found that so far it does have other benefits.

When the barrel is empty and there's no chance of rain coming, I take the hose and fill it back up using the mist setting on the nozzle. This mists out the chlorine in the water making it more palatable to plants. Also the water that comes out of the hose is *freezing* filling the RB and leaving the water in there helps to warm it up, also making it nicer for the plants. I'd prefer to not shock my plants with cold hose water.

Plus that's a couple hundred gallons of water that don't go into my sewer line that I'd have to pay for. I think there's also a discount you can get with the city for disconnecting your downspouts... I haven't contacted the city yet because I'm planning on getting two more for the other downspouts later this year and want to do it all at once.

BTW you can make your own rain barrel for about $30 - search Craig's List for food grade barrels, you can sometimes pick them up for as little as $20.

It is true that the City of Portland gives you a major break on the stormwater portion of your water bill if you disconnect. Not sure if it is an all or nothing program as to the number of downspouts disconnected to qualify for a discount.

I assume the overflow from your full rainbarrels is directed away from the foundation and does not go back into the downspout system; that would not qualify for a discount.

In my neighborhood, most houses are 12 feet apart, making any side-of-the-house downspouts ineligible for disconnecting unless you resort to a very long, large flex tube to redirect the water.