How to Plan a Home Rain Water Collection System

As water conservation becomes more important, people look to use water more wisely. Using rain water can be a simple and effective way to cut down on household water usage and save money. The key to a rain water collection system is a rain barrel. Follow these steps to plan a rain water collection system for your home.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Rain barrel

1. Calculate the amount of rain water your roof collects in a year. An inch of rain produces 600 gallons of rain. Multiply 600 by the average number of inches of rainfall in your area. Multiply that number by how many thousands of feet of roof you have. That's how many gallons of water you can save by using a rain barrel collection system. For example, 600 gallons of water times 12 inches of annual rainfall is 7,200 gallons.

2. Figure out what you need for rain water collection. You already have the main ingredient, a roof! Most homes come equipped with downpipes from the roof. All that's left is a rain barrel.

3. Buy a rain barrel with a faucet or spigot on it or attach a faucet to an existing rain barrel. This faucet attaches to your garden hose for watering. Rain barrel sizes range from 40 gallons to 75 gallons.

4. Cover the barrel with wire mesh or a screen to keep bugs and debris out. Think about childproofing the top of the barrel to keep children out.

5. Check options that you might need, like an overflow valve that redirects water when the barrel is full. See if there is a way to connect two or more rain barrels if you want to expand your rain water collection system.

6. Connect your rain barrel to a downpipe from your roof, and you're in business with a rain water collection system.

Tips & Warnings

• Rain water contains little minerals, salts or sediment. This makes it good to use for outside watering.
• A new device in Australia called the Raintap Water Diverter captures and redirects rain water to other parts of a yard like a garden or pool. The Diverter is made from PVC pipe and an outlet valve that connect to downpipes.
• Rain chains, originating in Japan, can replace a downspout as an attractive way to divert water to a rain barrel or other more desirable location.
• Rain water isn't recommended for drinking or washing dishes or clothes. Use rain water for household purposes only after running it through a water purification system.

[watercache]

on 3/13/2009 Rain barrels are great for collecting rainwater but they can be inefficient due to their limited size. Most of the time, rain barrels overflow (wasting an opportunity) and then you use the collected rainwater quickly on your plants and landscaping. If you have the space and ability, you should consider installing a larger rainwater collection system. You can find out more at www.watercache.com. All of our clients wish they could have installed a larger system, especially when they see their systems overflowing.