Every time it rains you’re missing an opportunity. Hundreds of gallons are going into the soil. They’re saturating plants that don’t need any more hydration. The water is funneling down the community drains and sewers. It’s being wasted. However, if you harvest your rainwater, you can put it to great use. Harvested rainwater can be used to water your garden between rains, to wash cars and for other uses.

Harvesting your rain water does more than help the environment. It can save you money too. According to estimates, a typical garden consumes about forty percent of your household water bill. Harvesting your rainwater can save you thousands of gallons of water and hundreds of dollars. A simple rainwater harvesting system is easy and inexpensive to install. You’ll earn your money back in no time.

Tips and Ideas to Harvest Your Rainwater

Decide what type of system you want to utilize. A few simple rain barrels in your yard will capture rain. You can use this water to tend to a garden, water your lawn and other basics. If you want to get a bit more advanced you might create a system to collect the rain from your rooftop.

Oatey 14209 Mystic Rainwater Collection System

Again, this system can be quite basic. You might simply position rain barrels under your downspouts. Thus the water from your rooftop will go into the barrel rather than the ground.

You can simply place a rain barrel under each downspout. Or you might choose to reroute the water on your roof to one large collection barrel. You might choose to use an old barrel to collect the water. However, they do make rain barrels that have a number of features. Many barrels designed specifically for collecting rainwater have:

♦ A mesh top to reduce debris. Debris can wash off of your rooftop into the barrel. It can also fall from trees or be blown into the barrel. This debris can rot or block the faucet attachment.
♦ A faucet attachment. Some rain barrels have a faucet attachment or two. This makes filling a bucket quick and easy.
♦ A hose attachment. A hose attachment is helpful for two reasons. The first is that you can run a hose from your barrel to your garden for easy watering. No need to haul buckets of water. Secondly, you can attach a hose to the barrel to prevent overflow. Once the barrel is full, a hose attachment at the top of the barrel can prevent it from flowing over. This helps reduce erosion around the base of the water barrel and your home.

You can also get quite elaborate with your rainwater collection system. You can feed the rainwater you collect from your rooftop into an underground tank. This type of system requires a bit more expense and maintenance.

Collecting rainwater is simple, cheap and an effective way to save money and protect the environment. In a few hours you can have your rainwater collection system up and running. Check out your options today.