rain+barrels+(Matt+Oliver)

=__Rain Barrels__=

What is a Rain Barrel?
Rain Barrels are storage containers that collect rain from rain gutters. The rain gutters on the the edge of your roof leads the rain water from the roof, down the side of your house and into the ground, or into storm drains. Rain Barrels are designed to collect the water that would usually go into the ground/storm drains and collect it in a plastic storage container with a lid. There is a system that diverts water into the barrel with a lid, a system that diverts water into the barrel, an overflow that diverts water away from the house, a screen to keep out debris, and a water spigot to which a hose can attach. The rain barrel is connected into the downspout system, in order to capture and store some of the rain water.

When is it useful?
Rain barrels are used to collect rain water from downspouts on the side of your house instead of letting the water go to waste. The water you collect in a rain barrel could go to lawn and garden watering because nearly 40% of the total household water used is during the summer. The 40% that goes towards your landscaping could go towards people who are running out of drinking water and when we all need water the most, during a drought.A rain barrel will save most homeowners about 1300 gallons of water during the peak summer months. saving water not only helps protect the environment, it saves you money and energy (decreased demand for treated tap water). A rain barrels collected water is an easy supply of clean water that you can enjoy for outdoor uses which is free. The collected water can go towards watering plants, washing your car, or to topping off a swimming pool. It provides an ample supply of free "soft water" to homeowners, containing no chlorine, lime or calcium making it ideal for gardeners, flower pots, and car and window washing.

=How does the topic relate to one or more of the nutrient cycles discussed in class?= The rain barrels relates to the water cycle the best because there is a top on the rain barrel that does not allow the water to evaporate out of the barrel so you do not loose any water. Also, the barrel is what collects the precipitation (rain) when it falls from the sky therefore saving water.

=Is it a viable solution to protect the biosphere and what are the possible consequences to the environment?= = Yes it is not a solution to protecting the biosphere because it is collecting rain water for homeowners to use so they do not use up the water in holding areas that people use to drink as do animals. It is also helping the biosphere because all of the rain water that is collected, if it was not collected, i would run off and possibly flood plats and animals homes. =

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A consequence that could happen would be if algae were to start to grow and if you drink water with algae in it, you become very ill. The algae are microscopic, photosynthetic plants. When exposed to sunlight, chlorophyll in algae converts carbon dioxide (CO2 ) and water into glucose and oxygen (O2 ). Generally, algal growth in water is influenced primarily by the amount of nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen, carbon, etc.) in water, and secondarily by the availability of light incident on the water. However, water temperature, water flow, available substrate, and pH also influence the growth of algae.=====

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGFDlkJOdaM



Rail barrel

http://www.epa.gov/owow/nps/natlstormwater03/32Sands.pdf http://www.phillywatersheds.org/rainbarrel/ http://www.epa.gov/Region3/p2/what-is-rainbarrel.pdf