My neighbor swore his rain barrel would cut my water bill in half, 8 months later I'm not convinced

So my neighbor Dave (retired engineer, huge into sustainability) told me last spring that if I set up a 50-gallon rain barrel for my garden, I'd save at least $30 a month on my water bill. I bought one from the hardware store in April, installed it under my downspout, and started watering my tomatoes and peppers with it. After tracking my bills from May through October, I saved about $12 total, and that's only because we had a really wet summer. The barrel barely held enough for my small veggie patch after two dry weeks. Has anyone else had better luck with a bigger system or a different setup?

3 comments

3 Comments

willowg8811d ago

@emeryj66 Dave the engineer probably calculated it would take 17 years for that $12 in savings to pay for the barrel and just forgot to mention that part.

leo_black7610d ago

Man, that's a REALLY rough experience. It's one thing when a project doesn't save you money, but it's another thing entirely when you put all that work in and it actually makes things worse. I feel bad that he had to rip it all out, that's such a bummer.

emeryj6612d ago

My buddy Mark set up two 50-gallon barrels linked together last year after he saw a guy on YouTube. He was out there with soaker hoses for his whole backyard garden, and he said after a hot week with no rain the barrels were bone dry and his bill went right back up anyway. He actually ripped the whole thing out and went back to just running the hose on a timer at 5 AM.