I've been thinking about switching to polyethylene pipes myself after dealing with cracked PVC last winter—lesson learned the hard way. And yeah, my rain barrel's basically decorative by mid-summer... at least the squirrels seem to appreciate it.
"And yeah, my rain barrel's basically decorative by mid-summer... at least the squirrels seem to appreciate it."
Haha, same here—by July, mine's just a glorified birdbath. Polyethylene is definitely a solid choice for winter durability. Consider burying the lines slightly deeper, too; it helps prevent freezing issues down the road.
I hear you on the decorative barrel thing, mine ends up as mosquito central by August if I'm not careful. Tried greywater recycling at one of my properties a few years back—worked great at first, but tenants kept tossing weird stuff down the drains (you wouldn't believe some of the things I've found...). Eventually went back to rain barrels, but made sure to screen them better and added deeper underground lines to keep freezing at bay. Lesson learned the hard way, I guess.
Interesting point about the screening—I hadn't even thought about mosquitoes breeding in rain barrels. Just got my first house and was leaning towards greywater recycling since it sounded more efficient, but after hearing your tenant horror stories, I'm second-guessing myself a bit. Did you find that deeper underground lines were enough to handle freezing winters, or did you need extra insulation too? Trying to avoid learning everything the hard way...
I went with deeper underground lines (about 3 feet down) and skipped extra insulation—been fine through a couple harsh winters here in the Midwest. Greywater recycling was my first choice too, but honestly, maintenance got annoying fast. Switched to rain barrels with tight mesh screens, and mosquitoes haven't been an issue. Just keep it simple...fewer headaches that way.
