Calculating rain for the rain barrels…

When speaking to a customer today, I was reminded that a common question is, ‘how much water can I collect in a rain barrel?’ Here is a simple formula that will get you close to the amount. Generally each inch of rain yields a half a gallon per square foot. So a 20×30 Cape style home has 600 square feet of catchable area, or 300 gallons in a 1 inch storm. Divide that by the number of downspouts to get approximate yield at the downspout, or 75 gallons in this example per downspout. In the Boston market, we recieve around 40 to 55 inches of rain each year, with around 30 to 40 inches occuring during the catchment time of year (spring to fall). Remember, rain water is a great addition to an organic lawn care or plant health program.

Green pest control in the news…., look at this article from the Lowell Sun on Green Pest Control.

-Lauren Greenhow, General Manager, GreenHow, Inc.
www.GreenHow.com. Effective Organic & Low Impact Solutions, Lawn Care, Pest Control & Termite Control in Newton and Metro Boston.