Rain barrels help environment, conserve water

According to UF/IFAS researchers, landscape irrigation makes up approximately 50 percent of household water use, so using a rain barrel “also cuts down on your water bill.”

BARTOW — During Florida’s afternoon showers, which can average one inch of rain, about 1,000 gallons of water will run off the roof of a typical Florida home.

Experts with the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is hoping more homeowners will capture that water in rain barrels and use it to water lawns, wash cars and fill up pools.

“Drinking-quality water is getting scarcer,” said Becky Schaffer, a master gardener since 2010. She hosted a rain barrel workshop at the UF/IFAS extension office in Bartow on Saturday morning. She said she wants people “to make efficient use of rainwater and prevent storm-water runoff carrying pollutants into our water bodies.”

According to UF/IFAS researchers, landscape irrigation makes up approximately 50 percent of household water use, so using a rain barrel “also cuts down on your water bill,” Schaffer said.

Basic instructions for making a rain barrel: