Many people are wanting to conserve on resources, therefore, collecting rain water in a rain barrel has become quite popular for environmentally conscious folks. Your plants will simply love the collected rain water that you offer to them, as it will be all natural and free of chemicals, unlike the water from your faucet, which usually contains substances such as chlorine and fluoride. Rain barrels have a spigot where you can collect the water to water your plants, but for those folks who get tired of waiting for a bucket to fill, or who may have a large amount of water to empty at one time, rain barrel pumps can be quite helpful.
There are many different rain barrel pumps available today, but three types are the most common among all that are available:
Battery Powered Pump
There are several different battery powered rain barrel pumps from which you can choose. Do not make the mistake of assuming a battery powered pump is not a powerful machine, because, even though most are not as fast as an electric pump, most will do a fine job of emptying out a rain barrel rather quickly.
Most battery powered rain barrel pumps operate with three or four D-cell sized batteries, and are submersible. They will usually pump water continuously for about 3 to 5 hours. Battery powered rain barrel pumps may sound as if they are not very powerful, but most will pump about 757 liters of rain water per hour. These pumps are usually marine quality pieces of equipment, meaning you will get a hard working machine.
Portable Electric Rain Barrel Pumps
Lightweight, portable electric rain barrel pumps are easy to operate and simple to transport. A portable electric rain barrel pump can extract about 22 liters of rain water out of your rain barrel per minute. That is a lot of pumping from a lightweight and portable little machine! This pump will be especially handy and time saving if you have a large amount of water to move.
Most portable electric rain barrel pumps do not work from inside the barrel. Most are placed outside of the rain barrel and work through a submersible hose.
Manual Water Pump
For the do-it-yourself types, a manual water pump for your rain barrel will do the trick. This pump will especially be good if you are working in an area without power, or you do not have quick access to batteries. With a manual water pump, you can get a little bit of physical activity while you empty your rain barrel!
This type of pump is easy to set up and will work anywhere. It is also a strong pump, pumping out anywhere from 151 to 340 liters of rain water per minute. You will get a lot of work from a manual water pump, and there is no priming necessary. A manual water pump is easy to set up and there is no electricity needed.
Collecting rain water in a rain barrel is a good, environmentally conscious thing to do, and a rain barrel pump makes the task of getting the rainwater even easier. Sure, you can just rely on the spigot of the rain barrel to get the rain water for your plants, but for anyone who wants to collect the rain water more quickly, or for anyone who may have a large amount of water to move, a rain barrel pump just makes sense.
By figuring out your needs, and knowing how much you would like to invest, you can choose just the right pump that will make your rain water collection easier than ever.