Harvest Rain Water by Using a Rain Barrel

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Monday, 23 February 2009 03:06

A century back people would have laughed at an idea of selling packaged water, but today it is one of the most profitable products in the market. Governments are toppled over the issue of water today, it has become a make or break political agenda in densely populated countries like India. We should stop taking the availability of water for granted, people in deserts have to travel miles for a gallon of water, we still have the time to try and make a difference in saving water. It is not the matter of conducting a march or making a policy decision to make a difference, leave that to the government, you can make a difference by saving installing a rain barrel in your backyard. Rain barrel is one of the most economical and simple ways to harvest water.

The popularity of rain barrel is growing everyday. All you need to do to harvest rain water is to divert the flow of rain water from your roof to the rain barrel. Studies have found that in the recent past many families from across the US and Europe have actively participated in rain water harvesting by installing rain barrel. They use the water for their lawn and other activities like car wash

A venture capitalist firm is known to be researching on a new type of rain barrel, it will feature a Reverse Osmosis water filtering system added in between the pipes and the storage tank. If this system is installed in a large building, the water can not only be used for drinking but the rejected water from the RO system can also be used for washing the building or in the toilet flush tanks. The traditional rain barrel water harvesting system collects rain water as it is, whereas the water collected by this system can be safely used for drinking as the quality as good as packaged drinking water. The idea is still fairly new but if available commercially in cities and nations where water is scarce, it will catch up fast.

It is a practice in quite a few US cities, when there is no rain for a couple of months, that the city council asks its residents to stop wasting water on gardens and lawns. Harvested rain water can be used for the same during this period. Depending on the size a rain barrel can save up to 1000 gallons of water if there is enough rain. Not just a good rainy season, you also need to properly mark areas where water flows from your roof to collect the most you can. Pipes from these marked areas should be led directly into the rain barrel.

Rain barrel are subsidized but you can also make one of your own from thins lying around your house. All you need is a plastic tank, garden hose and a platform and you are ready to setup your own home built rain barrel. When you are setting up your rain barrel, make sure you have it raised slightly above the ground level by using bricks, cinder or wood. Also, make sure you have the height of your downspouts raised slightly above the level of the drum. Have your downspouts hoisted above the level of the drum too. Another thing you need to ensure is to keep debris and leaves out of the drum, this can be achieved simply by adding a filter on top of the inlet. To draw water from the rain barrel you can install a tap at the bottom or have a large lid on the top.

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