Watering the garden
Water for a garden can come from many sources, such as rainwater, gray water or a municipal water supply. However, all of these sources have some degree of contamination. If any of these water sources is used in the garden, removing any contaminants, rather than introducing them into the garden, would benefit both soil and plants. Together, gravel, sand and activated charcoal create an effective means of filtering garden water, as these materials mimic natural systems. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Cut the top out of a 5-gallon paint bucket lid, leaving the rim. Use a utility knife to cut out the top of the lid.
2. Drill a dozen holes in the bottom of the pail with a 1/8-inch drill bit. Use a pair of heavy-duty scissors to cut a piece of nylon window mesh, and place mesh inside the bottom of the pail. Perform this same operation on the remaining 5-gallon pails, discarding the lids on those pails.
3. Fill the first pail, the one that still has a lid rim, with activated charcoal. The activated charcoal will remove chlorine and other chemicals from the water. This pail will be at top of the stack of four 5-gallon pails, so you can simply remove this top pail and dump out the contents when the charcoal becomes spent.
4. Cut a piece of mesh to overlap the opening of the first pail and use the rim of the lid to seal the mesh over the top. This will keep out impurities like leaves, sticks and other large objects.
5. Fill each of the last three pails with 4 inches of washed sand. The washed sand will filter sediment and organic material.
6. Stack the four pails one inside the other, with the pail containing the activated charcoal on top. Stacking the 5-gallon pails in this manner will allow more pails of activated charcoal or sand to be added to more thoroughly filter the water if necessary.
7. Cut a hole in the top of the rain barrel that is 1 inch smaller in diameter than the bottom of the 5-gallon pail. Drill a pilot hole with a 1/4-inch spade bit, and then use a jigsaw to accurately cut the hole to the smaller diameter. Place the rain barrel under a rain gutter downspout or gray water outlet.
8. Place the four-pail filter on top of the rain barrel over the hole. Use silicon sealant to seal the bottom of the pail to the top of the rain barrel. This will keep out any impurities and unfiltered water. The silicon will hold the four-pail filter to the rain barrel with sufficient force but still allow easy removal.
9. Attach the 1/2-inch garden hose to the rain barrel spigot and run the hose down to the garden for convenience and ease of use.
10. Attach the watering wand to the garden hose and turn the shutoff valve to shut off the water. Open the spigot on the rain barrel so that you only have to turn on the wand when you need to water your garden.
Tags: rain barrel, activated charcoal, 5-gallon pails, bottom pail, barrel that