Just as Art was ready to do the water barrel project, Inga at Tai-chi told us that her husband, Glenn was going to be doing a rain barrel demonstration at the Urban Garden Center in Pearl City.
Although Art was pretty confident about his plans, we decided it might be a good idea to get some face to face instruction.
We were glad we went. There were a lot of hand-outs and we got to meet Glenn who you can't see because he's behind all those folks. He's wearing a paniolo (Hawaiian cowboy) type hat.
Glenn recommended this type of faucet because he said it was easier to turn than the others. He also said the brass faucets are better because plastic deteriorates in Hawaii. We KNOW that for a fact!
Water and sewer tax in Hawaii is so expensive now that the Board of Water Supply is recommending that people make rain barrels for their houses.
So now Art was ready to begin the project he'd always had in the back of his mind ever since we moved to Hawaii.
First there was a lot of measuring, drawing, measuring, redrawing. Then came the trip to City Mill.
We bought a bunch of downspouts, gutter, screws, elbows, roofing glue, big long nails.
He cut slits in the roof flashing.
He then drilled holes in the gutter and inserted these long nails (spikes).
Yes, I did help with this. I got to hold up the gutter while he pounded them in.
Then he had to saw the downspouts to the correct lengths.
The next step was to install the diverter that would send water from the downspout into the rain barrel.
We went out again to buy a splash plate for the bottom of the downspout and he added a shorter section to divert the water away from the house.
All done!
Now there was just the roof to work on.
For the last part of the project, Art diverted water from another part of the roof to flow into the gutter which would then flow into the barrel. When the barrel is full, water will flow down to the splash plate and toward the street.
Art is feeling mighty pleased with himself now.
Remember when the solar panels were installed and how he keeps wanting clear skies and lots of sun? Now he wants rain too! On the positive side... rain or shine, the man is happy.
Although Art was pretty confident about his plans, we decided it might be a good idea to get some face to face instruction.
We were glad we went. There were a lot of hand-outs and we got to meet Glenn who you can't see because he's behind all those folks. He's wearing a paniolo (Hawaiian cowboy) type hat.
Glenn recommended this type of faucet because he said it was easier to turn than the others. He also said the brass faucets are better because plastic deteriorates in Hawaii. We KNOW that for a fact!
Water and sewer tax in Hawaii is so expensive now that the Board of Water Supply is recommending that people make rain barrels for their houses.
So now Art was ready to begin the project he'd always had in the back of his mind ever since we moved to Hawaii.
First there was a lot of measuring, drawing, measuring, redrawing. Then came the trip to City Mill.
We bought a bunch of downspouts, gutter, screws, elbows, roofing glue, big long nails.
He cut slits in the roof flashing.
He then drilled holes in the gutter and inserted these long nails (spikes).
Yes, I did help with this. I got to hold up the gutter while he pounded them in.
Then he had to saw the downspouts to the correct lengths.
The next step was to install the diverter that would send water from the downspout into the rain barrel.
We went out again to buy a splash plate for the bottom of the downspout and he added a shorter section to divert the water away from the house.
All done!
Now there was just the roof to work on.
For the last part of the project, Art diverted water from another part of the roof to flow into the gutter which would then flow into the barrel. When the barrel is full, water will flow down to the splash plate and toward the street.
Art is feeling mighty pleased with himself now.
Remember when the solar panels were installed and how he keeps wanting clear skies and lots of sun? Now he wants rain too! On the positive side... rain or shine, the man is happy.
