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I had been aware of how much watering all these flowers was adding to the water bill, but never really thought there was something that could be done about it. This weekend I found an article about collecting rainwater. I thought about it for a minute and couldn't quite comprehend how exactly one does this. Yet, even a small city townhouse the amount of water that goes onto the roof and down the spout would seem considerable. Placing a (covered) plastic barrel at the bottom of your downspout with an overflow hole or hose at the top would likely allow the collection of enough water to at least keep the plants watered. These systems could also help in seperating rain water from sewer water in a city that has only one line in most of it.

Collecting rainwater isn't new of course. I remember a house on Ohio River Boulevard that had a large barrel in the attic that held a water supply before the days of indoor plumbing. A windmill ran a pump that sent the rainwater collected to the attic. A large underground cavern held the rainwater. "Rainbarrels" were also commonplace yard "ornaments" before the days of indoor plumbing.

I haven't tried this yet and I don't have a good idea of where one can buy a large plastic barrel locally. There are a number on this web site starting at about $109.00 plus shipping. If anyone knows where to purchase a rainbarrel locally or has a rainwater-collecting system, please let me know.