Rain barrels are wonderful for catching rain water in. I remember as a child, living in my parents cottage in Bobcaygeon, Ontario, my dad would place rain barrels under the eavestroughs. When it rained the eavestroughs would drip the water into the rain barrels.

After it rained, my mother would take an old pot from the kitchen outside. She would dip this pot into the rain barrel, careful not to get any leaves or twigs into the pot. She would then use this water when she rinsed our hair after washing it. I remember that when our hair was dry, our hair was so soft. The softness was from the rain water in the rain barrels.

I can remember the rain barrels that we used were just those black plastic ones. I've seen the wooden rain barrels that remind me of beer kegs. A rain barrel can hold a lot of water in them. Other uses for rain barrels would be irrigation and gardening.