Build a Rain Water Recycling System
Water is one of the most precious resources Earth has to offer. Almost every living organism requires water to survive. Water can also become quite costly on your monthly water bill. Next time a high water bill has you fuming, consider the fact that hundreds of gallons of free water is falling outside your house when it rains. Instead of letting this precious resource simply fall to the ground and disappear, consider catching some of your own free water.
Instructions
1. Build a rain barrel. A rain barrel catches some rainfall as it drains off your roof. Cut a hole into the top of a 55 gallon polyethylene plastic barrel. Drill a small hole into the bottom of a plastic bucket. The bucket needs to fit into the barrel's hole without falling though. Stretch a mesh screen over the top of the bucket to filter out any debris. Install a spigot onto the side of the barrel. Stick it under the gutter pipe on your roof. If you do not have a gutter, simply set it in a place where a lot of rain water falls in a small area. The water enters through the bucket, the barrel stores the water and the spigot gives you access to the water.
2. Collect the water after the rain stops. Try to avoid handling the water as much as possible before you sterilize it. You may want to run it through some finer mesh material to filter out any debris that got into your rain barrel.
3. Set the water over a heat source to let it boil for 20 minutes. Make sure it is a nice roiling boil before you remove it from the heat source. A few bubbles will not cut it when it comes to sterilizing rainwater. Let the water cool completely before you do anything else.
4. Store the water in a fresh 55 gallon polyethylene plastic barrel until you are ready to use it. Water will stagnate if it stays still too long, though. If you cannot use the water within a week, stir it up a little so it does not sit perfectly still too long.
Tags: rain barrel, Build Rain Water, filter debris, free water, gallon polyethylene