I've been messing around lately with collecting rainwater at home, mostly to water the garden and cut down on the water bill a bit. Here's what I did: first, I got a couple of those big plastic barrels (the food-grade ones), cleaned them out real good, and set them up under my downspouts. I put some mesh screens over the openings to keep leaves and bugs out. Then I rigged up a simple overflow pipe so excess water doesn't flood the yard.
It's working pretty well so far, but I'm still figuring out how to keep algae from growing inside the barrels. I've heard adding a little vinegar or bleach can help, but I'm kinda hesitant about chemicals since I'm using it on veggies and stuff, you know? Also, I'm thinking about hooking up a basic drip irrigation system to make watering easier.
If anyone's done something similar or has better ideas for keeping the water clean or improving the setup, I'd love to hear it.
