Our rain barrel is one of the best purchases we ever made around our house. It’s about ten years old and it’s still going strong.

We bought it at Arbour, a cute eco-friendly store in the Glebe. In its former life our barrel was a commercial-grade olive container. With a capacity of about 200 litres, I truly can’t imagine how many olives floated around in that thing once upon a time. Arbour still carries them, but I’ve noticed there are a bunch of them on Used Ottawa too.

It is very simple.

1. Rain falls on the roof of our home
2. It makes its way to one of the downspouts and into the rainbarrel
3. That’s it.

The water is there, ready to be used during the next dry spell. A screw on lid with a mesh covering prevents children, mosquitoes and other critters from getting in there, a spigot at the bottom allows me to easily prop a watering can underneath, and a hose near the top prevents overflow.

There’s enough water for me to keep my containers in good shape if there’s a dry spell.

Not only am I making a small dent in my water bill (ok, a very small one), but it makes me deeply happy to know that I’m doing my part to conserve water and giving my garden a long cool drink of the good stuff.

Also, drawing water from it requires a bit of patience. The flow is a little slower than you’d get with a hose, so I am forced to stand there and wait for an extra minute or two. I spend this time gazing around the garden, sometimes I pick a few weeds, but you know… I would argue that waiting is not necessarily a bad thing.

If you’re interested, heed my advice and pick one up quick. They’ll be in short supply around Ottawa, especially with water bans in the south end of the city.

Do you have a rainbarrel or two? Has it made a difference in your life? Do you love it, or do you love it?