Care and Feeding of a Rain Barrel:

Care and Feeding of a Rain Barrel:
Little people

As child I thought nothing of picking up a hose and drinking from it. Aside from the lead in most of the garden hoses these days the last thing you want a little person to do (or anyone else for that matter) is to sip from the rain barrel hose.

Rain water that has traversed the roof may have organic and inorganic solids suspended in it. Bird poop, spider webs (and poor Mr. itsy-bitsy spider he won't live another day to get up the water spout!), decomposing leaves are but a few of the organic items.

The chemicals from the roof could include, lead from the metal flashing around a chimney, copper from a copper gutter or downspout, mold and fungus inhibitors, and cedar shakes are treated with chemicals too.

Many units have a single screw on lid that is fairly easy to remove. If you have children in the immediate area of the rain barrel, look for a rain barrel design that explains how it is child safe or child friendly.

You will find rain barrel designs at Aquabarrel.com that offer child friendly designs. But it is still up to you to keep them from ingesting water from that hose.