Compost tea in a WICHITA RAIN BARREL?

We have been playing around with an idea for a few years now and I think we have gotten a bit closer. Take a look at the video and let me know what you think!

" ECO HERO" Awarded to Wichita Rain Barrels

I would like to thank our friends at RETRO ECO for making us an ECO HERO! We made a commitment when we started making rain barrels that we would make the best rain barrels we could, but also make them affordable to every gardener and conservationist but also to the environment. That is why we only use food grade barrels that have been salvaged and saved from the land fill! Our commitment today is the same as it was when we started, we will make the best rain barrels we can and continue to put OUR customers & OUR environment first!  


THANKS AGAIN TO RETRO ECO....keep up the good work!

Convention encourages green living - kwch.com

We would like to thank all of our old and new customers for helping kick off the 2011 Energy and Sustainability Fair & Summit. We had a GREAT time and enjoyed talking with all of the fairgoers. Take a few minutes and see the video, did grandma Marion really say that? Yes she did, and she still is saying it today!

Convention encourages green living - kwch.com

2011 Regional Energy Sustainability Summit & Fair

THE 2011 REGIONAL ENERGY SUSTAINABILITY SUMMIT AND FAIR IS BACK!
We have been asked to participate again this year in the Energy Sustainability Fair and will have great deals again on our Wichita Rain Barrels. We are still waiting to find out about the great deal the City of Wichita has gotten for you but I do know it will be well worth the time to come on down and participate in the Summit and Fair. We are also do a presentation on rain barrels this year and will have some great hand outs to distribute. We are really excited and hope to see you there! Click on the title and go check out the cities "Green Wichita" page!

Winterizing your Rain Barrel

I received my first question last week about winterizing a rain barrel. It was kind of a weird question and became apparent to me quickly that this person had purchased a rain barrel from a competitor when they said that they could not get all the water out of the rain barrel. WICHITA RAIN BARRELS are made to be left in place all year, even in the winter. As long as a short piece of hose is connected to the spigot AND the spigot is left open you will have no problems. I have left mine in place for over 4 years now and have had no problems. 


Last year we performed our first long term winter experiment. We let one of our Wichita Rain Barrels filled all winter. We let it freeze and then every day for a week would go out and break the ice up by hitting the side of the rain barrel with a hammer. We did this for a few reasons, first we wanted to test the integrity of the rain barrel in extreme weather, and second we wanted to make sure that it was frozen solid. The water did freeze solid and the barrel did expand but nothing broke. We do not recommend treating your own barrels this way.

Our recommendation for winterizing all WICHITA RAIN BARRELS is to keep them in place all year. In November when the temperature begins to creep toward freezing, empty the rain barrel and make sure to keep the spigot OPEN for the winter. Attach a short length of hose to the spigot, making sure that the end is pointed into an area of your yard that will not be effected by some extra water. I have ours go to a bush and a tree. We recommend doing this to make sure on any drainage from your roof does not end up in your basement, crawlspace or near any place that it could create damage.

Mrs. N's Duel Wichita Rain Barrel Setup

Mrs "N"'s son called us up last weekend and wanted some information about our systems. After consulting with them at there home we determined that one of our Duel Rain Barrel set ups would be ideal for the situation that they had. Here is a picture of the set up, and the awesome metal stands made by RED FENCE FARMS in Hutchinson KS.

Another Customers set up

I almost forgot about Miss "J"s Wichita Rain Barrels set up. She purchased these after seeing us at the Harvey County Garden Show. As you can see she also picked up a couple of our Rain Barrel Stands.

Here is what she has to say about her set up:  "I have used my rain barrels for two months and really like them.  Our city bills water in 100 unit (about 750 gallon) increments.  My last water bill showed ZERO use (that means I used less than 750 gallons that month, because of the supplement of the rain barrels.  Ordinarily I use around 1500 gallons and the previous bill, I used more than 3000 gallons. Also using the rain barrels made me think about my water consumption and I did water conservation in other ways, just to do a test to see how much I would use.  And I did it without feeling like I was "deprived" of water. "

Whats a RAIN SAUCER?

About a year and half ago I was contacted by Tom Spargo, one of the inventors of the Rain Saucer. We started talking about some alternative options for collecting rain water other than using the standard roof from your home or shed. Tom and a few other people began experimenting with some designs and have now moved into the experimental phase of production of their Rain Saucer. The goal for Tom was to collect rain water for people living out in the world that have very limited access to it and that are dependent on it to survive. Here is the blog:   http://www.rainsaucers.com/blog.htm

Check it out! There hard work will be life changing for a lot of people around the world!

Are you needing something to do over the lunch hour?

Are you needing something to do over the lunch hour? Botanica has lunch time lectures AND Wichita Rain Barrels will be there tomorrow! We will talk about our history of how we got started and what we are doing now! It is sure to be a riveting lecture! We will also be offering a special deal for anyone in attendance!  Click on the link above to get to Botanica's website, check out what else is going on here in WICHITA.

Two more AWSOME custome painted Wichita Rain Barrels!

Here are two more Custom painted Wichita Rain Barrels. This customers some did these for her and I have been told he is ready to do more. I can pass along contact info to him if any my customers are interested in having theirs painted up.

Here are several shots from customers this summer.

The first 2 are from Mr & Mrs P. They have a very unique rain barrel set up on their second floor balcony. We were able to do a custom Wichita Rain Barrel for them. We used a 35 gallon barrel and had a custom made stand too.

These next several shots are from Mr & Mrs W. Mr W. bought his first one as a anniversary gift and then wanted a second one! Here is what they wrote me, "While others may have been sad about the rain over the 4th of July, we rejoiced because of our new rain barrels. We love them. It makes us feel like responsible environmentalist, in addition to our composting and recycling efforts".on to our composting and recycling efforts".

Wichita water supply lines are at their limit Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2010/06/27/1379485/city-has-rights-to-water-but-no.html#ixzz0s9TSwWL6

Wichita water supply lines are at their limit

BY BRENT D. WISTROM

The Wichita Eagle

Photos

• 

If Wichita were to enter a drought this summer, it couldn't provide enough water for all the thirsty plants, dirty cars and loads of laundry out there.

The city is permitted to draw 240 million gallons of water a day from Cheney Reservoir and a local well field, which is plenty.
But its aging and underdeveloped infrastructure can process and deliver only a bit more than half of that — 130 million gallons a day.
That's not enough to meet demands of the city in a long, dry summer, much less during a prolonged drought.
"If a drought were to start right now, we've got the water rights to handle it with the population we have in Wichita," said Deb Ary, Wichita's superintendent of production and pumping. "We don't really have the infrastructure to handle it safely."
Wichita has had several years of wet weather — including the record-breaking 53.8 inches of rain in 2008. Climatologists say drought is nearly impossible to predict, but that from a historical perspective, Wichita is due.
"Historically, we have had patterns of wet and dry and they tend to run on a 20-year cycle," said state climatologist Mary Knapp. "We've had our wet period and we've had our dry period. So the question is, do you want to have the expectation that you'll continue in a wet pattern when you have historical evidence you'll have a dry pattern?"
Wichita also has to worry about those hot summer days when the city often has its peak demand for water.
A recent study by the city's water consultant, HDR Engineering Inc., found that the city is 4 million gallons a day short of being able to supply local water customers on the highest water use day of the year.
And by 2041, the city won't have enough water for even average days.
If the city thinks it is close to running short, it would likely ask people to voluntarily use less water. If that doesn't work, it would likely impose mandatory restrictions.
The potential for shortage highlights a complicated and frustrating dynamic as Wichita hikes its water rates, effective Thursday:
People are using less water, but the price of water will probably continue to rise.
Supply and demand
Wichita once drew most of its water from the Bentley and Equus Beds well fields north of the city.
But in 1993 it began using Cheney Reservoir more because it had drawn down groundwater levels in its well field.
The aquifer recharges during a rain. But the city was pumping water out faster than nature could put it back in through rains.
That created another problem.
A salty plume of groundwater caused by oil exploration is slowly moving toward the Equus Beds Aquifer. As the groundwater level dropped, it accelerated the flow of contaminated water toward the city's water wells.
The city devised a $550 million recharge project to pump water out of the little Arkansas River, treat it, and put it back into the aquifer, hoping that raising the groundwater levels would push the saltwater away from the city's wells.
Today, Cheney provides 65 to 75 percent of the local supply and the Equus Beds contribute 25 to 35 percent.
Farmers, industry and other cities also draw from the aquifer. The state has issued water rights that allow people to take out more water than nature can put back in.
It's simply overappropriated, said Tim Boese, manager of Groundwater Management District 2, which includes Wichita's well fields.
About 550,000 people depend on the groundwater in District 2's 1,406-square-mile area.
Here's how it's split up:
* Irrigation of crops: 50 percent
* Cities: 24 percent
* Industrial use: 13 percent
* Recreational and other uses: 3 percent
About 10 percent is pulled away by river systems.
For the moment, there's plenty of water to go around, mostly because of several rainy years, Boese said.
"But eventually the city will have to pump their entire rights out of the aquifer," he said. "Eventually, we'll have another drought."
Boese is part of the Wichita Water Utilities Advisory Committee that recommended that the City Council go ahead with the next phase of the aquifer recharge project that can pump 30 million gallons a day back into the ground.
That's water that can be used in the future.
But it's also essential to stopping contaminated groundwater leftover from salt mining and oil field production from flowing into the well field and farming wells.
That appears to be working — the salty flow has slowed by about a third, according to HDR's report.
But the plume is still inching its way near the edge of the well field.
Not everyone agrees that the city should press forward with the next step in the recharge project given its affect on water rates.
HDR recommended the city reduce the size and cost of the project, at least initially.
But City Council members recently approved the rate hikes based on the full-scale aquifer recharge, noting that the difference came down to only about 11 cents a month for average residential users.
Vice Mayor Jeff Longwell opposed the hike, which will cost the average household about $2.91 more a month this year and $4.19 more a month next year over current rates.
He said continued conservation and more-efficient irrigation and industrial cooling systems may drastically reduce the city's long-term needs.
"It seems we're setting ourselves up for future burdens for the rate payers," he said.
Fixing pipes
A few fixes could help Wichita meet its projected needs in the short term.
One is installing larger air valves in the pipe that carries water from Cheney Reservoir to Wichita.
It was made to carry 80 million gallons a day — but undersized air valves limit its use to 72 million gallons a day.
Another is replacing the pipe that runs from the Bentley well field to the city so that it can carry up to 30 million gallons more a day.
For example, average daily consumption is expected to grow from about 67 million gallons today to 101 million gallons in 2050.
Peak demand, which usually happens on a summer day, is expected to climb from 133 million gallons to 201 million gallons in 2050.
Many ideas for new water sources have been proposed. The most prominent lately has been the potential to pipe water from El Dorado Lake, a reservoir about 30 miles northeast of Wichita.
City Manager Robert Layton said leaders from both cities are trying to arrange a meeting to discuss possibilities.
"I'm not so much concerned about what would happen today under (drought and maximum use days)," said Layton. "You're just barely short today. And you can handle the worst-case scenarios with conservation."
But he said the city needs to focus on the trends and make sound decisions so that enough affordable water is available for years to come.

Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2010/06/27/1379485/city-has-rights-to-water-but-no.html#ixzz0s9TZivDl

BUY A RAIN BARREL AND STOP WORRYING ABOUT NOT HAVING ENOUGH WATER!

Remember 1 inch of rain on 1000 SQ FT roof  equals 623 gallons of FREE water......

Wichita Rain Barrels will be at Johnson's Garden Center this weekend for a DEMO and SALE!

"Save Water in the Garden"* Sat. June 26, 10:00 AM - All Locations Eco-friendly ways to save water and money! Learn the benefits and how-tos of drip irrigation, mulch and collecting rain water. Special guest, Peter Daniels of Wichita Rain Barrels, will be at our 2707 W. 13th store only! *Advance registration is appreciated.  To sign up for our seminars you may either call the location you plan to attend, or email us at signup@johnsonsgarden.com and let us know what store you'll be attending and how many are in your party! In order to get in on the BIG SALE, you have to be there,  sorry no call in orders!

WRB will be at LIV FEST 2010! Great music and RAIN BARRELS

WRB will be set up and rocking out on June 19th at LIV FEST. 

Wichita water rates may increase

BY BRENT D. WISTROM

The Wichita Eagle

• 
  Mike Hutmacher/The Wichita Eagle 
  Screen filters in the Little Arkansas River lead to pipes that carry water to a treatment plant, after which it is introduced to the Equus Beds, which supplies more than a quarter of Wichita's water.

Wichita's water outlook

Current water supply:
124 million gallons a day
Average water use:
67 million gallons a day
Maximum amount needed in 2025 during a drought:
157 million gallons a day
Possible future sources of water
* Buy water from El Dorado Reservoir
* Expand well field near Riverside Park
* Ask industry to use treated sewage water for manufacturing and cooling
* Increase amount taken from Cheney Reservoir
* Pump water out of the Arkansas River
* Require more water conservation to reduce demand
The city proposes increasing water rates by 7.5 percent and sewer rates by 10 percent this year and 8 percent on water and sewer rates next year.

Wichita water and sewer customers could see a nearly 9 percent rate increase on their monthly bills later this summer, an 8 percent hike next year and smaller jumps in years to come.
For average residential customers, that translates to $2.91 more per month this year and $4.19 more per month next year over current rates.
Meanwhile, the city is exploring ideas to find cheaper sources of water long-term, like buying water from
El Dorado Reservoir and having big industrial companies use treated wastewater for manufacturing and irrigation.
The proposed rate hikes come from a report released Wednesday by HDR Engineering Inc., which the city hired earlier this year after learning its water utility was headed toward financial failure.
A major part of the problem is that the city isn't selling enough water to pay for the $550 million Equus Beds Aquifer recharge project meant to ensure a long-term water supply.
In addition to rate hikes, HDR proposes slowing down the city's recharge project to put off about $35.8 million in expenses over the next several years.
If the city doesn't expand its water supply and find a way to pay for it the area could face water shortages by 2040, or much sooner if a severe drought occurs.
And if the city drops the aquifer recharge project, it runs the risk of having one of its main sources of water contaminated.
A salty plume of groundwater caused by oil exploration is slowly moving toward the Equus Beds Aquifer that the city relies on for more than a quarter of its water.
Putting river water into the aquifer to raise the groundwater levels around the city's wells is supposed to keep the saltwater from reaching the water wells.
While a steep rate increase seems inevitable this year, a lot could change before additional hikes start.
City Manager Robert Layton said he'll recommend that City Council members approve the increases on June 15 on the condition that the city conduct more thorough rate analysis.
Layton said that could lead to a new rate structure that charges heavy water users more and encourages conservation.
It could be months before any new rate structures emerge, but they will have to avoid pitfalls of the past.
Though the years, the city has tried encouraging conservation through water rates and public education.
But the city didn't properly account for the declines in water use for the past three years that stem from a combination of exceptionally rainy weather, the recession and consumer conservation.
A new rate structure "addresses what we keep hearing from the public," Layton said. "And that is: 'I conserve water and then the city's projections go south and therefore I'm being penalized for conserving.' "
Among other possible changes outlined include:
* Rehabilitating and expanding water wells along the Arkansas River near Riverside Park.
* Skimming water off the Arkansas River after heavy rain and treating it with reverse osmosis.
* Reducing water pressure to cut down on pipe breaks, leaks and the amount of water wasted when people leave faucets running.
Even more drastic changes could be on the horizon.
El Dorado connection
Mayor Carl Brewer said that he's withholding judgment on the rate increases and other proposals for the moment.
He said only: "I want to do everything in our power to keep our water rates down."
But he's confident in the Wichita area's long-range supply.
He and Layton plan to meet with El Dorado City Manager Herb Llewellyn and Mayor Tom McKibban within a month to talk about possibly tapping into El Dorado Reservoir about 30 miles northeast.
That idea was explored in 2000 but was never acted on.
Llewellyn said the reservoir supplies about 75 percent of Butler County with water and is "very underutilized."
"There is lots and lots of water just flowing to the Gulf of Mexico," he said.
In 2000, Professional Engineering Consultants examined the possibility of El Dorado treating and piping water to Wichita.
The study showed a start-up cost of $32 million to pump 10 million gallons a day.
Llewellyn said El Dorado already has plans for a pipeline and water tower to distribute water to parts of western Butler County and that it could be expanded to serve Wichita.
But both Wichita and El Dorado officials say the idea is very preliminary, and they haven't yet had any serious discussions.
Brewer said he is interested in exploring it.
"At the end of the day, it's not about how much the city of Wichita is selling or how much El Dorado sells," he said. "It's about the future, 50 years from now. Do we have enough water to be able to meet the needs of Kansans and people within this region?"

Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2010/06/03/1341749/wichita-water-rates-may-increase.html#ixzz0pnZAVVXc

 

Garden Wars 2010!

OK,OK this has nothing to do with Wichita Rain Barrels but I couldn't resist! Check it out and let me know what you think! there are 2 links one to an acquaintance of mine from high school (GO EAST HIGH) who is blogging this link:http://strangesgardencenter.blogspot.com/ and then the link from the title will take you to the Richmond Virginia HQ site.

SALE! SALE SALE SALE SALE SALE

Wichita Rain Barrels is having a sale! All of our duel rain barrels are on sale and ready to go. We have 4 sets to choose from. The white set is 150.00 and the 3 painted sets are 175.00(thats a 75.00 discount) It is a first come first serve kinda deal so drop us a line and reserve one today!

oh yeah............... have you seen our composter?
It makes compost in approximately 15 to 20 days! It heats up to around 120 to 130 degrees!

Photos of some new Wichita Rain Barrels!

Here are the three painted ones the the artist, Michael Hunter has done. He is about to move to Alaska for some crazy reason (has to do something with a woman) So when these are gone......there gone!

L.A. recycles rain to protect its ocean

L.A. recycles rain to protect its ocean

Los Angeles is encouraging residents to recycle rainwater to prevent runoffs from polluting the ocean. The city also wants to impose fees on developers who fail to utilize the rain. Jennifer Collins reports.

Bob Moon: As we speak this morning, rain is drenching us here in Los Angeles. Much of the water usually runs into the ocean, but officials want to get individual developers to catch the water and recycle it. And L.A.'s effort is becoming a model. From the Sustainability Desk, Marketplace's Jennifer Collins reports.

Jennifer Collins: Sherri Akers has a secret weapon when it comes to her garden:

Sherri Akers: I'll just take water from the rain barrel. Take a bucket.

Akers shows off a 55-gallon plastic barrel in the backyard of her L.A. home. The city gave it to her as part of a pilot program to use more of the rain that falls.

Akers: To water my potted plants. This is a dwarf blood red orange tree.

Normally, when the clouds open up, rain falls on her orange tree. But it also washes off streets and driveways and gets channelled to the ocean. The city wants to prevent that.

Paula Daniels: It's the number one source of pollution to the ocean.

Paula Daniels is a commissioner on L.A.'s board of public works. She says the city is considering making developers build in a way to catch rainwater, and among other things, redirect it to the water table below.

Daniels: It's about trying to change the way we work the landscape and keep the runoff on the property as much as possible.

Daniels says developers could easily do that with planted areas, cisterns or pavement that filters water instead shuttling it to the drains. This could help recycle water in the drought-stricken area.

Daniels: We will take the burden off of having to import water from Northern California.

If developers can't catch the water, the city will charge them a fee, that on a large construction site could total more than $200,000.

Bill Davis: They're looking for money.

Bill Davis is with the Southern California Contractors Association. Davis says the city's desperate for money, and this is a sure-fire way to raise it. He says the contractors he works with aren't trained to meet these kinds of requirements.

Davis: We know how to handle the water, what we don't know is how to keep it on a job site instead of sending it someplace.

Davis says the additional fees will cripple an already battered construction industry. Still, Philadelphia and the state of Maryland are forging ahead with similar requirements.

I'm Jennifer Collins for Marketplace.

Show Schedule to find WICHITA RAIN BARRELS

We have had a busy spring so far and its not over yet. We have already had the Garden Show and TREE FEST but we are doing two new shows this year outside of Wichita. We are going to be at the 2010 Harvey County Home and Garden Show April 10th and 11th. It is set up inside the National Guard Armory at 400 N Grandview in Newton.  And then two weeks later we will be set up at the 8th Annual Gardens in Bloom Event in Wellington at Raymond Frye Complex 320 North Jefferson. We will also be set up May 1^st at the Sedgwick County Extension Center for HERB day.

Harvey County Home and Garden Show- http://kansasvirtualtours.com/gardenshow/
Annual Gardens in Bloom Event-  http://www.sumner.ksu.edu/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=58
Herb Day- http://www.sedgwick.ksu.edu/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=449

We will be participating in several presentations so please come out and ask us some questions!

Another Hydroponics set up!

Here is an email I received not to long ago from the hydroponics guy.

Hey Peter,
I just wanted to shoot you an email, my wife and I dropped by to say hello Sunday at the Garden Show (if you can remember, HA). I'm also the guy who wrote you all the DIY hydroponic stuff for your blog last summer. 

Well.. long story short, my wife and I started a little home gardening business.  We are selling tomato and pepper transplants,and an auto-watering gardening container (which is why I'm writing you).  It's similar in size and shape to the "earthbox", but it has something that the earthbox hasn't thought of yet - a TRUE auto-watering container, no manual refilling required.  You attach the container to a garden hose, either supplied by a rain barrel or wall spigot, and a valve in the container shuts the water off automatically when it's full.  It also has a couple PVC tubes that run horizontally through the soil compartment (with holes in them) that help to aerate the soil and reduce water logged soil.  With a splitter at the supply end, and a few extra garden hoses you could do up to 4 (maybe more?) containers on one supply (rain barrel). 

I think what you are doing is great, for the environment and the economy, and I'd like to work with you to create some synergy to help both of us out.  I was thinking about adding a link to each others pages, maybe special deals (example: if someone bought a container they'd receive a coupon for a barrel and vice versa), or a joint venture at a flea/farmers market. Please email me back at grow@happynessgardening.com and we can talk about some of the specifics.

Oh and if you want to check out our site it's www.happynessgardening.com.

Talk to you soon,
Joseph Nestelroad

Need a stand for your Wichita Rain Barrel

Need a stand for your Wichita Rain Barrel? Well here is a good one to take a look at. I met Tom at the 2010 Energy and Conservation Fair earlier this month. He has shown a great entrepreneurial spirit and has assembled a sturdy stand. He came over and showed it to me when he picked up his two Wichita Rain Barrels and I was very impressed. I will have some on Display at the 2010 Garden Show March 3 through the 7th at Century Two. Look for us in EXPO hall, by the food court.

Follow the link to look at his stand!

http://tpkouns.blogspot.com/

WRB on KNSS Radio with Johnson's Garden Center

Johnson's Garden Center has graciously supported Wichita Rain Barrels from the beginning. Marty asked me to swing by so that we could chat about WRB and the 2010 Regional Conservation and Energy Fair.
Click on the Title and sit back and enjoy!

Wichita Rain Barrels for sale for $25.00 2 days only!

The City of Wichita and Wichita Rain Barrels have teamed up for a Rain Barrel EXTRAVAGANZA!
On January 22 and 23rd I will be selling my Wichita Rain Barrels for 25.00! For 25.00 you will get my standard white rain barrel with the gutter attachment and the regular overflow hose! This is a great deal for anyone that is even 1/2 way interested in gardening...........

Heres how it will work. On the 22nd and 23rd of January at the 2010 Regional Energy & Sustainability Conference I will have a booth set up. The city will be handing out vouchers. The public can come down and pick up a voucher swing by my booth, hand me 25.00 and set up a date for delivery and then when I deliver the Rain Barrel you will give me the voucher. It is as simple as that......

Remember this is for 2 days only

JUST IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS----------GIFT CERTIFICATES------------

WICHITA RAIN BARRELS now offers Gift Certificates!
Want to get you favorite gardener a GREAT GIFT?
Get them a gift certificate and let them choose the color this spring !
Just email me and we can make all the arrangements!

Here is a VERY CREATIVE hydroponics setup using a WICHITA RAIN BARREL

Below is a great hydroponics set up that a client of Wichita Rain BArrels has done. He has had great success with it. Here is a bit of info he sent me.

"  These pics are a few of my proto-type gardens I built myself.  Not prettiest things in the world but they save on maintanence (weeding, daily watering, etc.).  I never have to do anything but look under the lids and make sure the water level is up to par. 

 

I'm in the middle of building another one that I plan on selling in the next growing season, the one that auto fills itself and is simular to the "earth box".  I might try to grow some winter crops like lettuce or brocolli just to see what happens. 

 

A few quick tid-bits about the gardens, the large "stand up" one is called a NFT (nutrient film technique) system and is great for pretty much anything as long as you don't mind the roots traveling down the hoses, but my pepper plants got a little top heavy late in the season (maybe something smaller next year).  The tub looking one is a aero system in which the roots of the plants are suspended in the air and a sprinkler system mists the roots.  The Aero is best for your larger plants, see the picture of the roots of my 2 tomato plants under the lid. I built a 2 tub system, but never filled the whole thing up (too late in the season), maybe next year.  Both systems need nutrients (macro AND micro nutrients) put into the water which I get cheap online, cheap for hydroponics that is, and I use a TDS/pH combo meter (these get REALLY expensive) to measure the correct amounts about 1 time a month.   I have only filled the Aero up once this summer (about 20 gallons, and the NFT about 4 gallons every 2 weeks since the supply is smaller and it evaporates. Anyway, if you have any other questions feel free to call/email me.  I LOVE TALKING ABOUT IT.

Joe Nestelroad

 Thanks Joe for ALL THIS GREAT INFO! If anyone wants to send me a request I will forward it on to him.

 

NFT (nutrient film technique) system

Wichita launches a new project to clean up the Arkansas

Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. City of Wichita launches WRAPS project The City of Wichita Environmental Services Department is launching a new project aimed at improving the water quality of the Arkansas River and its tributaries that flow through the city. The Wichita Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy (WRAPS) will help identify water quality priorities and actions. The initiative is funded by a $50,000 grant from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) as part of its Kansas Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy. KDHE has assigned a high priority for restoration of the river basin in the Wichita area.Wichita WRAPS will focus on restoring the Lower Arkansas River Basin watershed. “We’ve known for a long time that the Lower Arkansas River Basin does not meet surface water quality standards and have taken actions for improvements”, said Kay Johnson, Environmental Services Director. “However, this grant permits us to engage citizens in determining the interests and needs of the community for watershed protection. We’d also like to find partners to help implement water quality improvement actions.” The project will begin with a developmental phase to identify community interest, followed by three additional phases of assessment, planning and implementation. The City will use the grant funds to retain Geotechnical Services, Inc., (GSI) to gather citizen input and hold informational community meetings. The project also includes launching a Web site for posting local Arkansas River water quality information and an online survey. For more information about Wichita WRAPS or upcoming community meetings, visit www.wichitawraps.org . E-mail questions and comments can be submitted to info@wichitawraps.org. Project funded by an EPA Section 319 grant Could You Be a Stakeholder? Anyone with an interest in the watershed's resources is a stakeholder. In reality, everyone who lives in a watershed is a stakeholder in the restoration and protection of that watershed. Examples of stakeholders include urban and rural residents; local, state or federal government agencies; elected officials; agricultural producers; recreational users and wildlife enthusiasts. If you are interested in participating as a stakeholder fill out the stakeholder information form and someone will contact you within 48 hours. Take the Stakeholder Survey click here You're receiving this newsletter because you signed up for the Wichita WRAPS e-mail list or you have attended a meeting about the Lower Arkansas River watershed. Unsubscribe JLMiller@wichita.gov from this list. Our mailing address is: Wichita WRAPS 4503 East 47th Street South Wichita, KS 67210 Add us to your address book Copyright (C) 2009 Wichita WRAPS All rights reserved. Forward this email to a friend Update your profile

New Custom Painted Rain Barrels

Here are three new custom painted Wichita Rain Barrels done by a local artist by the name of Michael Hunter. These will probably be the last three he will do. He is packing his belongs up and moving to Fairbanks Alaska (has something to do with a woman) so when there gone.......there really gone!


If you are interested in one let me know before there gone, go to Wichitarainbarrels.com and email me.

New style rain barrel made with a screen

The President likes CARROTS!

I Promise to update soon! I have been swamped with WRB request lately and have also been working on a new variation of our standard rain barrel! Until then eats your carrots!

Water cost is rising in Wichita.......

Well it was bound to happen....not that I do not want to help as much as I can to get the country out of debt...but IF YOU BUY A RAIN BARREL YOU WILL SAVE MONEY ON YOUR WATER BILL. And now you will recoup your cost even faster. See the story in today's paper.


Wichita eyes increasing water usage rates to close budget gap

BY BRENT D. WISTROM
The Wichita Eagle
If the city raises water rates for its most consistent group of customers by 21 cents per thousand gallons, it could close its budget gap.
But the move would be expensive for some of the city's biggest employers.
Council members asked the water utility to look at increasing usage rates as an alternative to a proposed $2 surcharge and 5 percent usage hike.
Water officials say increases are necessary to continue a project aimed at recharging the Equus Beds aquifer north of Wichita to give the city water through 2050.
The increase is also needed to maintain the utility's AA- bond rating, which affects its borrowing rate on multimillion-dollar projects.
Under the scenario presented Tuesday, "block one" rate users — those who don't sway more than 10 percent above their average monthly usage in the winter — would see their rates go from $1.17 per 1,000 gallons to $1.38.
For many people that would be less than $2 a month.
But for big industrial businesses, it could mean tens of thousands of dollars.
Spirit AeroSystems is one of the city's biggest water users. Under the rate hike, it would pay $86,370 more each year for water.
Likewise, Hawker Beechcraft's bill would go up $31,363 a year, Wesley Medical Center would see a $12,008 increase, and Wichita State University's bill would climb by $978.
Wichita City Council members asked the utility to examine the rate hike, but utility director David Warren said he doesn't recommend it.
Instead, he stands by his original proposal to increase rates by 5 percent and increase the base charge — or surcharge — by $2. That would give the utility a reliable cash flow that's not dependent on how much people use.
The unusually rainy weather the past two years is one of the reasons the utility is struggling financially now.
"Right now, I think it's important that we not do things that would adversely affect our industrial base," he said. "This has the possibility of showing a negative economic impact on the people that provide the jobs in this community."
City Council members came to no conclusions after the presentation.
But they will likely decide on a rate increase when they adopt the 2010-11 budget in August.
The rate increases would start in January.
The utility has already delayed equipment purchases, put off improvement projects and held open 19 vacant positions.
The open positions save $824,000 this year and would save $978,000 next year.
The utility also plans to lay off 19 workers, saving about $915,190 next year. Most of those workers — clerks, engineers and environmental scientists — would fill open positions in water utilities or elsewhere in City Hall, Warren said.
The layoffs probably wouldn't come until October.
Mayor Carl Brewer acknowledged the hard choices the council faces.
"This is difficult here today," he said. "But we're going to work through it."

Spining composter redesigned.

After playing around with the original design, we have made some changes. We raised it up off the ground so a wheel barrow could be used under it. Here are the pics!
We are also looking at making one using a 35 gallon barrel for an apartment size spinning composter.......pics to follow soon.

It’s Now Legal to Catch a Raindrop in Colorado, heres another article about the legalities of rain water ! who would have thought!

It’s Now Legal to Catch a Raindrop in Colorado

Rick Scibelli Jr. for The New York Times

Todd S. Anderson used to keep his rain harvesting a secret.

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By KIRK JOHNSON

Published: June 28, 2009

DURANGO, Colo. — For the first time since territorial days, rain will be free for the catching here, as more and more thirsty states part ways with one of the most entrenched codes of the West.

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Times Topics: Water

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Rick Scibelli, Jr./The New York Times

Janine Fitzgerald, associate professor of sociology at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colo., depends on rainwater and solar power.

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Rick Scibelli Jr. for The New York Times

Tom Bartels of Durango said he had been “so willing to go to jail” for catching water on his roof and watering his garden.

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Rick Scibelli Jr. for The New York Times

Watering a lawn in Durango, Colo.

Precipitation, every last drop or flake, was assigned ownership from the moment it fell in many Western states, making scofflaws of people who scooped rainfall from their own gutters. In some instances, the rights to that water were assigned a century or more ago.

Now two new laws in Colorado will allow many people to collect rainwater legally. The laws are the latest crack in the rainwater edifice, as other states, driven by population growth, drought, or declining groundwater in their aquifers, have already opened the skies or begun actively encouraging people to collect.

“I was so willing to go to jail for catching water on my roof and watering my garden,” said Tom Bartels, a video producer here in southwestern Colorado, who has been illegally watering his vegetables and fruit trees from tanks attached to his gutters. “But now I’m not a criminal.”

Who owns the sky, anyway? In most of the country, that is a question for philosophy class or bad poetry. In the West, lawyers parse it with straight faces and serious intent. The result, especially stark here in the Four Corners area of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah, is a crazy quilt of rules and regulations — and an entire subculture of people like Mr. Bartels who have been using the rain nature provided but laws forbade.

The two Colorado laws allow perhaps a quarter-million residents with private wells to begin rainwater harvesting, as well as the setting up of a pilot program for larger scale rain-catching.

Just 75 miles west of here, in Utah, collecting rainwater from the roof is still illegal unless the roof owner also owns water rights on the ground; the same rigid rules, with a few local exceptions, also apply in Washington State. Meanwhile, 20 miles south of here, in New Mexico, rainwater catchment, as the collecting is called, is mandatory for new dwellings in some places like Santa Fe.

And in Arizona, cities like Tucson are pioneering the practices of big-city rain capture. “All you need for a water harvesting system is rain, and a place to put it,” Tucson Water says on its Web site.

Here in Colorado, the old law created a kind of wink-and-nod shadow economy. Rain equipment could be legally sold, but retailers said they knew better than to ask what the buyer intended to do with the product.

“It’s like being able to sell things like smoking paraphernalia even though smoking pot is illegal,” said Laurie E. Dickson, who for years sold barrel-and-hose systems from a shop in downtown Durango.

State water officials acknowledged that they rarely enforced the old law. With the new laws, the state created a system of fines for rain catchers without a permit; previously the only option was to shut a collector down.

But Kevin Rein, Colorado’s assistant state engineer, said enforcement would focus on people who violated water rules on a large scale.

“It’s not going to be a situation where we’re sending out people to look in backyards,” Mr. Rein said.

Science has also stepped forward to underline how incorrect the old sweeping legal generalizations were.

A study in 2007 proved crucial to convincing Colorado lawmakers that rain catching would not rob water owners of their rights. It found that in an average year, 97 percent of the precipitation that fell in Douglas County, near Denver, never got anywhere near a stream. The water evaporated or was used by plants.

But the deeper questions about rain are what really gnawed at rain harvesters like Todd S. Anderson, a small-scale farmer just east of Durango. Mr. Anderson said catching rain was not just thrifty — he is so water conscious that he has not washed his truck in five years — but also morally correct because it used water that would otherwise be pumped from the ground.

Mr. Anderson, a former national park ranger who worked for years enforcing rules and laws, said: “I’m conflicted between what’s right and what’s legal. And I hate that.”

For the last year, Mr. Anderson has been catching rainwater that runs off his greenhouse but keeping the barrel hidden from view. When the new law passed, he put the barrel in plain sight, and he plans to set up a system for his house.

Dig a little deeper into the rain-catching world, and there are remnants of the 1970s back-to-land hippie culture, which went off the grid into aquatic self-sufficiency long ago.

“Our whole perspective on life is to try to use what is available, and to not be dependent on big systems,” said Janine Fitzgerald, whose parents bought land in southwest Colorado in 1970, miles from where the pavement ends.

Ms. Fitzgerald, an associate professor of sociology at Fort Lewis College in Durango, still lives the unwired life with her own family now, growing most of her own food and drinking and bathing in filtered rainwater.

Rain dependency has its ups and downs, Ms. Fitzgerald said. Her home is also completely solar-powered, which means that the pumps to push water from the rain tanks are solar-powered, too. A cloudy, rainy spring this year was good for tanks, bad for pumps.

The economy has turned on some early rainwater believers, too. Ms. Dickson’s company in Durango went out of business last December as the construction market faltered. The rain barrels she once sold will soon be perfectly legal, but the shop is shuttered.

“We were ahead of our time,” she said.