Rainwater tank

A rain barrel is a container for collecting and storing rainwater.

In contrast to a cistern rain barrel is not permanently installed in the rule, but movable and can be removed especially for the winter months. Furthermore, it can only store water for a few weeks. After barrel-like structures made of wood were common in the 1960s, there are now almost exclusively rain barrels made ​​of plastic. Are usual volumetric capacities of between 200 and 500 liters. The water from the rain barrel is used mainly for watering the garden. The removal is usually done by hand with a watering can or a bucket.

Used to offset this is only water from roofs, which will be diverted via appropriate devices in the downpipe the gutter and fed to the rain barrel.

There is wide range of accessories for filtering and removal of the water available.

Hazards

• Animal welfare organizations reported a risk of drowning cats, squirrels and other small animals not covered in rain barrels. Rain barrels should always be covered for safety reasons.
• Rain barrel water should never be used as drinking water, because it can be highly infectious and may have taken from the roof drainage system pollutants or heavy metals.