How can a simple rainwater harvesting system help you to conserve water?

That's a big question, and the answers can vary depending on your location. If you live in an area  that gets low amounts of rainfall at just certain times of the year, your needs will be different than someone that lives in an area that gets rain throughout the year. In the first scenario you will need to think about much larger storage capacity than you would if you live in an area that gets frequent rains that replenish the tank(s) more regularly. In either case though, you can benefit greatly by setting up a rainwater collection system to take care of a portion of your irrigation needs and possibly even your toilet flushing and laundry needs. This decreases the burden on your local water company, reduces your metered water consumption and saves a lot of energy by not having to purify water that doesn't need to be.  In the U.S. very few jurisdictions allow the use of rainwater for drinking purposes but it can be used for irrigation, toilet flushing and laundry. Rainwater harvesting will allow you to use your public water for what it is designed for and you can use free water from the sky for the rest of your needs.

Rainwater Harvesting can be as simple as a single barrel or plastic garbage can with a spigot and a hose  or it can be as complicated as your imagination can conceive.

We like to stay on the simpler side of Rainwater collection here at Being Water. We believe in systems that can be easily built and installed by the end user with everyday components that in many cases are recycled from other uses such as food grade barrels that have had vegetable oil, vinegar or other organic liquids in them. The ones we like to use are "closed top" food grade barrels. They are usually very inexpensive, easy to get and are also very durable. They come in blue or white. The white is more prevalent. It's a little more aesthetically pleasing as well. The downside to the white is that it has a tendency to grow algae in it because it absorbs sunlight. The blue ones are more resistant because of their darker color. The algae isn't much of a problem if you only use the water for irrigation and wash them down twice a year when rain is plentiful.  If you can't find barrels locally, you can find them on line from a variety of distributors. It's always better to find them locally though because shipping can be prohibitive and it's just plain wasteful to ship air.

We have assembled different instruction and D-I-Y Kits for the different systems here in our Rainwater section. Things change here fairly regularly as we add new ideas and products. We've tried to keep our D-I-Y Kits as affordable as possible while making them simple so you can get involved easily. Some of our manuals are free. You may be able to do this for cheaper than the ways we have described here, but our projects have been designed for durability and functionality. If properly taken care of, a used food grade barrel will last over ten years as a rain barrel. So why not use parts that will last equally as long if not longer? Whether you purchase anything or not, we hope you find this information useful and educational. Together we can make a difference.

The different instructions and D-I-Y Kits are listed below. Ranging from the very simple single barrel system to multi-container systems that utilize pumping systems to move water when and where you need it. Just click on the title to go where you want to go. Use the "Back to Top" buttons to return here.

Rainwater Instructions, Kits and Products

BASIC SINGLE BARREL INSTRUCTIONS AND MATERIAL LIST.

Build a rain barrel and start collecting you own water. It's a great way to start becoming independent.

CONNECTING MORE THAN ONE BARREL.

Learn how to interconnect barrels to get an emergency water supply to help during dry  spells

CONNECTING LARGER CONTAINERS TO YOUR BARREL

Learn how to economically store larger amounts of water

   FIRST FLUSH DIVERTER KITS.

Clean the debris out of your rainwater before it reaches your storage tank

     FLOATING SUCTION FILTERS

Always get the cleanest water from your tanks. Available in four sizes

 PRESSURE PUMPS

TQ200 Pressure Pump. A great economical way to start using rainwater around the yard as well as for laundry and toilet flushing. it works great with our Floating Suction Filter.

TQ200 Only $199.00 (Out of Stock)

BASIC SINGLE BARREL INSTRUCTIONS AND MATERIAL LIST

So now you have your barrel, what's next?
Setting up a simple rain barrel collection isn't really hard at all. You can probably get it " rain ready" in a couple of hours. Personally, I like the upside down barrel system as shown on the right. 

Some of the advantages to this type of barrel are:

• you have access to all of the water because the spigot is on the very bottom of the barrel.
• It's really easy to connect more than one barrel, or daisy chain them together
• It's easy to convert it into a more advanced system, which we'll get into a bit later.
• Easy to clean because of a bottom drain

 instructions for the construction of your rain barrel Click Here

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CONNECTING MORE THAN ONE BARREL

55 gallons of water may feel good for a bit but.....

....it just doesn't go very far. It's OK if you just have some potted plants on your front porch or a raised bed that doesn't need a lot of water. But,if you have any amount of greenery at all, then you are going to want to set up more than one barrel. This is actually pretty simple to do using the upside down barrel system. As it turns out you already have an outlet on the underside of your barrel that is perfect for attaching a 2" threaded fitting to.
As shown in the images to the right, there are 2 fittings on the barrel a 2" threaded NPS (National Pipe Standard) and a 2" threaded buttress fitting. The buttress fitting is the one you should have your faucet connected to.

Using 2" diameter is a good idea because if there is a good down pour the first barrel with the down spout connected to it isn't as likely to get over whelmed with to much water before the second, third, fourth, fifth, and so on barrels fill up with rain water. You've probably seen some designs out there that have 1/2" or 3/4" hose between barrels to allow equal filling. This can be a messy experience. And if you are dependent on short cloudbursts to supply you with the water you need for irrigation, having a good flow is essential. A restricted flow between barrels means that during a down pour, your first barrel will be overflowing before your other barrels have filled. You want them to equalize as quickly as possible.

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CONNECTING LARGER CONTAINERS TO YOUR BARREL.

Because some of us use a bit more water to take care of our irrigation needs.

Using the same connection coming out the bottom of your barrel, you can connect a variety of different types of tanks. 275 gallon, or 325 gallon used totes work well for this purpose. The ones in the image had olive oil in them. They clean well with an organic de-greasing solution. These totes came out just fine and are serving a long second life irrigating a garden.

These are great for a lot of reasons. The first is that they are re-purposed from the food industry. They come with a positive gate valve so that the tanks can be isolated if you need to work on them. They are easily adaptable to conventional plumbing fittings and they will last a long time.

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PRESSURE PUMPS

TQ Series Pumps

We are pleased to be able to offer a number of these pumps at a significant savings. Back when we were a distributor of commercial Graywater systems we purchased a large stock of these pressure pumps.  These are the same exact pump that is used in the expensive commercial systems. Not only do they turn on and off by sensing water pressure, they have their own built in pressure tank.  They are an ideal addition to any active Graywater system or Rainwater Harvesting System. We have used them in both and have had excellent results. These are available in one size. TQ 200 (1/4hp),   This pump carries the Brac label but is manufactured by Walrus Pumps.  

Download the PDF specifications

Available from our Web Store

TQ200 Only $199.00 (Out of Stock)

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