I hopped off a conference call this afternoon and was surprised to see it actually raining! Woohoo! Of course I grabbed my umbrella and went out in it. How could I not?
I did have to hook up my downspout to my water tank again, as its been hanging idle for two weeks. In just a short amount of time the light rain added dozens of gallons of rainwater to my tank. I guess I got about 80 gallons from an hour’s rain. So much that I chose to drain the tank into a garbage can to make sure I saved every drop.
I noticed another thing during my rainy jaunt: the other back downspout doesn’t drain at all. That means my tank is actually collecting rain from half the roof area, rather than the quarter I thought it was. While the purist in me wants to unclog the downspout, I certainly don’t mind collecting the water that would otherwise be gone if it was unclogged. I might just leave things this way.
In related news, the City of Raleigh has a limited number of rain barrels for sale. Shoot me a note and I’ll tell you how to get one.