Municipal water bills across the country are soaring. Meanwhile, drought conditions bring about city- and town-wide water bans during the driest of months. Capturing a bit of rainwater today to use in outdoor gardens tomorrow is easy and cost-effective, and will keep your vegetables and flowers from wilting when the rains cease. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
Rain Collection
1. Attach a gutter system to the edge of your roof. Chances are, your house already has one; but if it does not, now may be a good time to invest in one. Not only will you be able to collect that wasted rainwater, but the gutters will keep water away from your foundation -- one step in preventing basement water. They also assure your guests of a shower-free exit if they have to leave your home during a rainstorm.
2. Maintain your gutters. Keeping your roof and gutters clean and debris-free is important not only to prevent contamination of the water you will collect, but also to avoid overflow and waste.
3. Calculate catchment. This step is only necessary if you’re not using all the water you collect and you fear overflows. It has to do with the square footage of your catchment area (your roof) and the amount of rain that falls. However, there’s plenty of room for error, what with waste and splash-off. If you’re into math and want to give it a shot, start with the square footage of your roof, which you can get by aqdding the footprint of your house to slope and overhang. The footprint of a building is its external square footage; it is the area on which your house sits. The slope can be added to the foot print as a percentage; the overhang is any area beyond the dimension of the external walls. One inch of rain on one acre of land yields 27,154 gallons of water; there are 43,560 square feet in an acre. Good luck.
4. Or skip the previous step. For most of us with a roof, clean gutters and a downspout, the following steps are all we will need. Purchase a rain barrel. They’re a fairly common sight at garden centers these days, and can also be ordered through the internet.
5. Attach the rain barrel to the downspout.
6. Wait for rain.
7. Use the water from the tap at the base of the barrel, allowing gravity to work its magic. Or invest in a water pump, also available online as an accessory.
Tags: your roof, square footage, your house, footage your, rain barrel, square footage your, will keep