I asked Sam about the rain barrel he mentioned yesterday, before my basement flooded from all the rainwater pooling around the foundation, and he was kind enough to write up a blog post about it.

My Tote-ally Awesome Rain Barrel – samfirke.com

Sam

I'm thinking of installing some rain barrels to use for our flower beds, and to generally help prevent the sewer system from being overwhelmed during heavy rainfall. The American lawn^[1] has dramatically changed how water sinks into the ground (or doesn't, as the case may be) and that leads to floods and too-full sewers. A rain garden in both the front and back of the house is my eventual goal, but in the near-term a rain barrel is easy to implement.

NB: Rain barrels can be risk when used to water plants you intend to eat. Read up a bit on how to use them safely if you want to water your vegetable garden.