As I mentioned in the last post, I finally managed to get my cows out to some fresh pasture. We are having a much wetter spring than we've had in a bit, (thankfully!!) but I'm still in the whole 'water is precious' mode so I'm saving all the rainfall I can. In addition to my normal rain barrels, I have the overflow going into extra troughs laying around. I use it to water what outdoor plants I have at the moment as well as my houseplants. I am also using it to water my cows.
We have this little tiny submersible pump that I used for my rabbit watering system years ago (typical farmer mentality, never throw anything away) and I now use it to fill a 55 gallon barrel that I use to transport water to the cows. I can get two barrels out of the 100 gallon troughs, which is nice, but I also have this big, big trough that was given to us. In wetter times it was our 'pool'. Now it catches rain overflow. I can water the cows for quite some time and it hasn't even made it more than half full yet. Every bit I can do to preserve our well, I'm on it.
My husband would agree that one can never collect too much rainwater! Great idea for collecting the overflow. My ducks would love that. I like how you use it to fill your 55-gallon drum. You've worked out a logical system that minimizes water waste.
ReplyDeleteSo far it seems to be working like a charm! The kids like it, too, since it still sort of functions like a pool as far as they're concerned. :)
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