Conserve water in dry regions with a water catchment.
While water catchments are not widely used today, families once depended on them for bathing, cleaning and watering plants and animals. Now, you can simply call the local water utility, ask it to turn on your service and then turn on the faucet. This is convenient, but is sometimes not very ecologically sound. Creating a water catchment to hydrate lawns and gardens will help reduce the amount of drinkable freshwater you consume and pad your wallet. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
Water Catchment
1. Choose a placement for your catchment. Below a gutter is a good choice because you can use the gutter to direct a large amount of water flow to your catchment. Avoid placing it under overhangs and awnings, as they will block rainfall from your catchment.
2. Build a rectangular frame for your water catchment using the four longer wood pieces for the sides and eight of the shorter pieces for the top and bottom. The frame should fit around the barrel, and will be about an inch taller.
3. Place the frame under a gutter or in some other place there is a lot of water flow.
4. Place the barrel into the frame.
5. Create a lid by hammering together the remaining wood pieces. Attach the screen to the top of the lid. Trim the excess. The screen will catch large pieces of debris, such as leaves, and will also prevent many insects and birds from making their way into your water catchment.
6. Attach one side of the hinges to the frame, and the other side to the lid so that it swings open and closed. The bolt of the hinge should face outward, with the flat side facing inward.
7. Open the lid to retrieve water, and close it afterward.
Tags: your catchment, your water catchment, water catchment, water flow, wood pieces, your water