It still surprises me when I see municipalities and some media promoting Roof-based Rain Barrels as a source of water for your "garden". Left to their own interpretations, folks might think "garden" means vegetable garden and that can be problematic. Why? If the RB owner has an asphalt roof (the most common type of roofing in the United States) they will inadvertently be exposing their edibles to a wide range of contaminants.  Here is a list (not exhaustive) of what might be present in asphalt roof run-off:  zinc, lead, chromium, arsenic, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, bacteria (from animal inhabitants), and dissolved organic carbon. As an Environmental Toxicologist with the Minnesota Department of Health once put it "it is similar to what you might collect off of a parking lot." (Source) Other types of roofing material may not be as bad as asphalt. But it is clear that whatever is used to make the roof moss and weather proof can be a source of harmful chemicals.

Professional RWH installers will say that this contamination is not a problem if you install "first flush" and a filtration system. And that is true.  But over time (as filters need to be replaced) that can cost 1000s of dollars not to mention the cost of pumping the "cleaned" water out to where you need it.  First flush alone is not expensive but nor it is it sufficient, as it can't really get at dissolved contaminants.

Needless to say, if it's not safe for your edibles it's certainly not safe for drinking water. And this is why we created our product: to provide those who need it with a way to harvest water with a focus on cleanliness and quality, not quantity as one gets with roof run-off.

During our recent appearance at the Self Reliance Expo we had an interesting conversation with an attendee who was CONVINCED that our product could be made cheaper in China. He thought our costs were too high and that Chinese manufacturing was the key to achieving low price points and national distribution. And while we didn't have time for a debate at the time, let us state for the record that in our case, Chinese production is not cheaper.

In fact, we tried working with plastic from China and found it be the same price as American vendors after customs duties and shipping charges. Not to mention that the quality wasn't all the great and there were indeed some miscommunications about what we wanted.  Manufacturing in China might make more sense for us if our product was smaller or highly labor intensive. But since we make our product out of large, heavy plastic sheet that we cut ourselves with proprietary tools, the China cost advantage is non-existent.

Our view is consistent with other companies that work with Plastic in large amounts. For example, most of the plastic tank and barrel companies we know manufacture in the United States. Even plastics giant Rubbermaid makes is trash cans and 80% of all its products here including many of its food grade commercial containers.

Each fastener starts as one single piece with both top and bottom halves pre-aligned so that you just place in the matched up holes, press,  and "snap" into place.

After installed, you can easily remove each fastener by using a flat head screwdriver (or a fingernail) to separate the top and bottom halves.

The two halves look now like this.

To reinstall the two halves, place the bottom half in first to the matched up holes and with one hand, try to maintain some space in the center.

Then with the other hand press and snap in the top half of the fastener and your re-installation is done!

A customer recently wrote us asking for advice about how to find those 55 gallon blue drums (which are sometimes white, but blue is better for algae prevention).  We understand the interest in these- they're durable, food-grade, stable in wind because of their cylinder shape, and already have the standard 2" NPT hole  (check before you buy) making them easy to connect.  The only issue with these drums is that they do no not nest with each other. So it makes them expensive to ship, forcing most folks to find them locally.

So here is our advice on how to find drums, or other food grade barrels, in your area:

For used drums and barrels the best source is Craigslist*. You might have to try a few locations over a few days to get just what you want.  Search on "55 gallon" or just "barrel" and your options will appear. $20 is the going rate from my research.  Used drums and barrels are ideal for gardening as long as the container previously contained food.

For new drums*:  Both Costco and Sam's Club carry drums. Or if you have an emergency preparedness store somewhere in your area they would most likely have them.  New drums are used for potable water storage. They can be used with our system for emergency drinking water but please note, unless the water will be consumed fresh after each rain event,  we would recommend that you use a preservative and disinfect before consumption. This applies to any water storage not just rainwater.

For new barrels:  Rubbermaid's BRUTE line of containers that are the "round" type are food grade. They come in  grey, yellow, and white colors and are certified to meet NSF standard #2 for "Food Equipment". Look for models 2610, 2620, 2632, 2643 and 2655, which hold 10, 20, 32, 43, and 55 gallons respectively.  Home Depot and Wal-Mart both sell them. You can use a BRUTE for water storage but as mentioned above, preserve and disinfect if not consuming the water immediately.

*Remember, If you are looking for a drum for a 59" RainSaucer, make sure to get one with a removable lid.

Time for some more mythbusting. This time let's look at the notion that rainwater (in its pure form not off a roof) is somehow unsafe for drinking because of pollution. It's an understandable misconception given that most modern humans get their drinking water after its been filtered in any number of ways. So one can see how we tend to think "drinking water= filtered water".

There is also the old fear of "acid-rain" from the Industrial Age. People seem to think rain can hurt you when it becomes acidic.  But what they don't understand is that "acidic" simply means a PH less than 7. A lot of beverages have a PH less than 7. Orange juice has a PH of around 4.  Coffee has a PH of around 5. Rainwater is rarely that low and even if it was, it would just taste sour not hurt you.

Aside from our many posts related to rainwater as drinking water, it might be easier to prove that rainwater is potable by reviewing the scenario in which rainwater did actually became toxic. In other words, what would happen if rain became so polluted, it could cause damage if ingested?

• The first signs of toxic rain would probably be seen in aquatic life since to fish, water is like air.  They would begin to die off immediately as they started absorbing the chemicals from the rain into their gills.
• Apart from the food chain aspects of dying fish (animals who eat those fish would also perish), the demise in fish would be followed by damage to wildlife in the area who would be hurt because unfiltered rain is their main source of water. Along with the wildlife, plant life would be destroyed by these same chemicals which  damage roots and and destroy nutrients in the soil. The pollution would also damage the waxy protective layer on leaves making plants vulnerable to pests and diseases.
• Humans meanwhile, might start feeling the effects of the toxic rain immediately- not necessarily from the rain itself but from the underlying pollution.  Particulates in the air  causing toxic rain could easily lead to an epidemic of asthma, bronchitis, or worse. Any person spending a lot of time outside would be at risk of absorbing the particulates through their lungs and like the fish, perishing in short order.

In the United States, the above scenario has not happened in modern times especially since the Clean Air Act. Yes, there was severe pollution and acid rain during the 19th century. Fish died. Some Forests were affected.  But the toxicity level thankfully never reached the point of mass destruction described above.  

For rain to be toxic when consumed, the concentration levels of pollution in the atmosphere would have to be so high, that many us would already be sick from the air. In that case,  most other organisms would be dying off taking our food supply with them. And that just hasn't happened with the exception being the rare nuclear event.  When things go radioactive,  the only option is to get out of dodge and move far, far away.

One urban myth that seems to persist is that rainwater harvesting (RWH) is illegal when that is absolutely not the case. First of all, to say it is illegal implies a federal ban, which does not exist.  Water supply is regulated by individual States. Yet there is no State that has an outright prohibition. In fact, the majority of States are completely silent on the matter which means individuals are free to do as they please.  Meanwhile, of the 12 States that do have laws, none of them prohibit the practice, only regulate it. Those states are Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Washington.

Some worry that regulation means severe restriction. But that is not the case either. For some states, it can mean the reverse. In other words, the State is promoting the practice.  Texas, for example, offers a sales tax exemption on the purchase of rainwater harvesting equipment. Meanwhile Oklahoma recently passed the "Water for 2060 Act" which initiates grants for  information campaigns on capturing and using harvested rainwater. Even in Colorado where RWH actually was illegal until 2009,  residential property owners are now allowed to collect rainwater.  Colorado recently authorized 10 pilot projects where captured precipitation was used in new real estate developments for non-potable uses. 

Much of the blame for the persistent myth that rainwater harvesting is illegal comes from media overexposure.  For example, headlines were made in August of 2012 when an Oregon man was jailed for having three private reservoirs without a permit. But does the requiring of a permit make something illegal?  As long as the issuing of permits is actually occurring and does not appear to be arbitrary, I would call that a bureaucracy rather than a prohibition. Ironically, Oregon is fairly progressive on the residential RWH front. Oregon Building Codes allow for the creation of  both potable and non-potable RWH systems.  Portland, Oregon meanwhile is a hot bed of rain barrel activity. Just ask our reseller partner the Rain Barrel Man who has been successfully marketing cedar clad rain barrels since 1998.

There is a good reason why we only make RainSaucers™ and not Rain Barrels . It's because the general public has now caught on to the fact that anyone can make their own rain barrel for under $35. No need to buy one for up to $200 from your local nursery. All you need is a recycled barrel or cheap trash can, a bulkhead fitting or grommet, a faucet, and some other minor hardware.  It's so straight forward that you can now choose from a variety of kits which take you through the entire process. These kits are everywhere online and even at Walmart.

The upswing in rain barrel kits has been a great enabler, not just for end users, but for municipalities and nonprofits trying to promote water conservation.  It seems like almost every week there is a rain barrel giveaway, workshop, or subsidy program announced- all relying on DIY RB kits or something similar. Yet while this trend has been great for water conservation,  it has meant a big decrease in new Rain Barrel Sales. We know this from our conversations with major online gardening  websites and garden centers. One well-known garden supply website which ranks in the Top 5 on Google search for "rain barrel" told us last year "rain barrel sales are in the toilet".

This trend has mainly been a good thing for our startup. Since we make our own rain barrel kit and offer the RainSaucer™ as its own DIY kit, our Sales have continued to grow. But when we mention that to garden centers (where rain barrels have historically been sold) they are usually incredulous,  having had a bad experience with rain barrels.  A good example is a nursery we recently spoke to in Livermore, CA. Their owner was initially so excited about rain barrels, he bought a whole pallet of the terra cotta vase style. Years later his nursery still hasn't gotten rid of all the units,  in spite of deep discounting. So we can see their logic- rain barrels don't sell so why should other rainwater harvesting equipment.  To us that's like throwing the baby out with the bath water (which could easily be clean rain from our system BTW). Instead, they should just embrace the DIY rain barrel kit revolution.