On Jan 5, 11:56*am, Edge wrote:
I know its winter. But being retired and with idle thoughts I am
looking at my neighbor's rain barrel that during the summer collects
rain runoff from his roof to water his plants. Our houses in the
development have basements with sump pumps. My own sump pump goes off
more regularly than it rains around here in the summer. Since the sump
collects clean ground water, is it okay to divert that water to a rain
barrel? Seems a better idea than dumping and wasting that water into
the storm sewers.

I side with the folks who say yes go ahead that water should be fine,
at least for lawn and flowers. One thing I have noticed with my sump,
though, is that the water in the sump well is not always completely
clear; sometimes it has a little suspended dirt (i.e. it's a little
murky). Nothing wrong with that either but it might tend to settle
out and form a layer of sludge in the bottom of your barrel. Just
something to check for - if that happens you might need to stir it up
or flush the barrel out once in a while. -- H