Why pay to water your plants when in most locations more than enough rain falls right on your roof? Photo by madmack66.

Rain barrels are a time honored way of collecting water for reuse. Runoff water from your roof, water which is normally simply diverted to flow onto your lawn or down your driveway and out into the street, is collected in barrels and used for watering your lawn and garden in the ensuing rain free days. Why would you want use rain water instead of just cranking open the spigot? Over at FiveCentNickel they highlight several reasons including:

Using rain water will reduce your water bill. If you have "city water," you pay your municipality for supplying the water based on your usage level. If you have "well water," you pay for the electricity to run your water pump.

By the same token since most utility companies bill your sewer use based on your water use, you'll stop paying sewer fees for water that ends up in your yard instead of your sewer. For more reasons to use a rain barrel and tips on building your own rain barrels check out the full article at the link below. If you have a rain barrel or cistern—the hulking big brother of the rain barrel—at your house, tell us all about it in the comments.