Plastic barrels make basic rain harvesting simple and affordable.
People harvest rain water for the purpose of irrigating gardens and landscaping as well as to provide necessary water for their household. To use harvested rain water for drinking purposes, a more sophisticate system must be in place, but it can be just as safe as tap water if done correctly. Does this Spark an idea?
Basic Barrel Collection
The rain barrel method is the most popular for novice rain water harvesters. It consists of a collection area, transportation system and a storage system. Water is collected through the gutters on your roof and directed to the down spout which it fitted with a grated filter over the gutter to keep large debris from entering the system. Filtered water travels down the transportation system. This is usually is standard downspout gutter material. The transportation system is attached to the lid of large rain barrel where the rain water is stored. Barrels are set up at each down spout around the house. Barrels can be connected by spigots and hoses for more storage space.
Rain Water for Drinking
If you plan on using your rain water for drinking, you need a more sophisticated filter system. The initial grate filter on top of the gutters keeps large debris out of the cistern, but more filtration is required to make it safe for drinking. Filtration systems are available for this purpose. They often combine screen, paper and carbon or charcoal filters to clean the water. You can use the rain barrel method, but will need to develop a system to get the water from the barrels and into the house unless you plan on carrying it with buckets. Water pumps are necessary for this unless you raise the barrels up and use gravity to force the water into the house.
Underground Cistern
Underground systems are the most sophisticated and are most appropriate for household use for drinking and irrigation. Systems are available through many online companies along with installation quotes and training on use the system. Some systems are large enough to handle multiple-family water requirements. These systems collect rain water through the standard roof run-off method, but deliver it to an underground storage tank that filters the water and pumps it back into the house or wherever it needs to go. These systems are desirable because they do all the work internally and freezing weather does not affect output or durability.
Suface Storage Systems
Surface storage systems work along the same lines as underground systems; however, they are affected by weather conditions like freezing. They are sold and installed by the same companies that provide underground systems and are less expensive to install because they sit on a concrete or cinder block platform. Water is collected by roof run-off into a large cistern above ground. The water is filtered and pumped to where it needs to go. Sizes vary according to household need. Larger cisterns can accommodate multiple households.
Tags: rain water, into house, rain barrel, transportation system, barrel method, because they, down spout