How to Harvest Rainwater for Wildlife

If you have livestock or animals outside, why waste money refilling their water from the tap when free water falls from the sky? Depending on your water needs, harvesting rainwater can be easy and cheap. Rainwater in many regions is often more pure than water running from the tap, but that is not always the case. Don't bother paying a municipality for a free resource. If harvested properly, rainwater may even take the place of your municipality as drinking water in your home.

Things You'll Need

• Barrel to collect water
• Gutters and tubing to direct water to barrel
• Water pump (optional)
• Hose to distribute water
• Chlorine or UV bulb for disinfection
• Electricity source outside

Instructions

Harvest rainwater for wildlife

1. Though rainwater in many regions is more pure than tap water, test your water for contaminants. Water-borne illnesses spread quickly through livestock. Many water-testing products are available on the market. You could also take your water down to a local college and ask biology students to test it for you.

2. Capture the water. If you don't already have gutters installed on your home, garage and any other buildings, install them. Run the gutters into large barrels. Large plastic barrels are available in many places. Do not use metal cans. You can either bury the barrels underground, which would prevent freezing during the winter, prevent mosquitoes and keep water cool during the summer; or store the barrels above ground, which allows for easier access to test and treat the water.

3. Create method of dispersal. You can install water pumps and connect them to a hose. This is the most efficient method, but is more expensive. Many water pumps cost several hundred dollars. If the barrel is above ground, install a spigot near the base of the barrel and attach a hose. This only works if you intend the water to run downhill or for short distances. Or you could just use a pail and fetch the water.

4. Keep water free of debris. Install screens in your gutters to prevent debris. Clean gutters regularly and clean out barrels as well. Screens will only catch large debris. Sediment will settle at the bottom of the barrel and can clog your pump or spigot. You could install a fine mesh screen across the top of the barrel. This would make cleaning the screen much easier. For finer straining try to find extra fine metal screen or use a cheese cloth. You must change cloth frequently, though, to prevent mold and mildew.

5. Disinfect the water. You can do this a number of ways including chlorine, UV light bulbs and boiling. Shocking with chlorine efficiently disinfects the water. But excess consumption of chlorine is harmful to wildlife. UV bulbs deactivate bacteria without heat or chemicals. You could boil the water before using it, but this is not efficient, especially if you have a large number of livestock to water.

6. Dispense water. Fill the animals' water daily with the treated, fresh rainwater. Do not set up the water to run untreated directly into a trough for animals.

7. Maintain the harvesting equipment. Clean gutters and barrel regularly. If using a UV bulb, make sure it has not burned out. Test water occasionally for pollutants.

Tips & Warnings

• Mosquitoes will flock to open pools of stagnant water. Keep your barrel covered and rotating. Treating with chlorine will help prevent mosquitoes from breeding. Just make sure the water does not stagnate.

• Bacteria can be present in rainwater. Don't take the risk of exposing wildlife to E. Coli or other harmful bacteria. Treat the water regularly. Though this source of water is free (after setting up your harvesting system) it is not free of work.

Resources

• Select rainwater pumps.
• Water-testing kits.