For those of you who catch rain water to use on your gardens, how do you keep the water from turning brackish? When we get rain in Houston, the garden doesn't usually need anymore water for awhile.
I'm interested in this topic also...but more so from the extreme positive benefits of rain water vs well water.
Most of us that have gardened for any time have observed the incredible growing power and benefits of natural rain water. There is just no comparison to well water and even worse (yuk) city treated water.
I'm interested in methods and processes folks use to catch and store and apply rain water in the garden. Any info appreciated.
I've been collecting rain water for the last few years and have never really had a problem but then again where I'm located we may get rain for a few days then nothing for a few weeks and back to rain so I normally do a pretty good job cycling the water.
I also drain the entire barrel toward the end of fall and disconnect it from the down spout.
I have two linked rubbermade trash cans that collect the water from my garage roof. I keep the lid on one and used to have a piece of window screen over the second.
I don't know what you mean by brackish though. To me brackish refers to a weakened saltwater solution with silt mixed in like oysters grow in in the Carolina low country.
Around here the big problem with rain catchments is you're creating a mosquito breeder.
I have learned that it is important to not allow sunlight into your rain collection system. I also have used screens to keep leaves, pine needles, etc. out of the water. There are people that use a few drops of Clorox in the totes/barrels to keep down any algae growth. I have never used Clorox because I am not convinced that it will not harm my plants. People say that it can be ingested by humans so I suppose it wouldn't hurt the plants.
Unfortunately, now I am unable to collect rainwater because I live in Colorado.
We collect rain water in a wine barrel that a relative brought over with from the Okanagan.
It rains a lot here so we cycle the water out pretty frequently and it never seems to get brackish or dirty. We tend to get pine needles in the water because of a tree that overhangs the gutter, but other than we've never had a problem.
As @w_r_ranch said, use the copper sulphide to knock down the algae. This is what we use at our community gardens where translucent HDPE is used for the water pigs. Watch the dose on the copper as it will accumulate in the soil and can cause problems in the long term.
The trash cans I use are dark and one is always covered and they're in shade 23+ hours a day - there is a brief amount of early morning sun that hits them. I've never really noticed algae growing in them.
A good drying and scrubbing once and a while will help tremendously too.
When we catch our rainwater, I use it to water our vegetable garden and flower beds. I don't have a problem with it turning brackish more it's a mosquito breeding ground. Sometimes if the water has sat for a while I will just empty it on the lawn and use it to water the lawn and even our neighbours.
I am just a small timer as far as collecting rain. I don't have rain barrels so I collect it in small buckets, and use it within two days. The debris and dirt in those buckets are incredible, but since it will go into the ground, I am just fine with them, no harmful things in there though.
Irrespective if your region receiving more or less rain, you can always make the most rain barrels, as they will help you in saving a lot of water. These barrels act as water reservoirs and help you use the stored water for gardening.