Rain, Rain, Collect and Save

Every year the average household delegates 50-70% of its water usage to landscaping, irrigation, and other outdoor activities. That can be quite a chunk of the local water supply, not to mention your monthly water bill. There is also a fairly large amount of wasted rain water that hits driveways, roads, and other non-organic surfaces traveling straight into the oceans as run-off. By replacing the water from your hose with rainwater, you can not only reduce your water bill, but also decrease demand on your local water supply and re-use an often ignored resource.

Rain water is one of the purest forms of water available. It has not come into contact with the ground, so it hasn’t picked up minerals or salts from soil or rocks or come in contact with surface pollutants. If using rainwater to wash clothing, you will never need to add water softeners since the amount of calcium is minimal and there is very little soap scum build up. Rain water also has a higher nitrogen content that other water, since it picks up the gas from the air as it falls. This makes rain water perfect for plants that prefer a nitrogen rich diet to thrive.

The easiest way to collect rain water for reuse is in a rain barrel, which will fit right underneath your rain spouts. Rain barrels usually hold around 50 gallons of water and come with a filter kit to collect and remove debris as it pours from the spout. They have a hose attachment near the base for easy use in the garden. There are also free standing barrels that sit in an out of the way section of the garden or patio without a lid. On sunny days, just replace the lid to prevent evaporation.

For those living in apartment buildings, it is just as easy to collect rain water. How many of us have dozen of useless empty containers that we swear we’re going to reuse, but end up just getting stored forever in a cupboard? Pull them out of the cupboard, label them with a sharpie for rain water storage, and get them outside collecting water. As they fill up, just pop the lids back on to keep the water clean and store them in a corner until needed. The nice thing about containers? They stack on top of each other for neat and easy storage.

The third type of recommended rain water collection is called a Rain Garden. These gardens are placed in the path of typical runoff routes and are dug about six inches down from normal lawn level. Rain water collects in the depression for the plants to use, usually perennials and native shrubs, but any type of high water requirement plants are perfect for this sort of garden. By creating a Rain Garden, your lawn will suffer less soil runoff and you'll have a unique stand-a-lone garden to admire.

For those already planning the best way to start their rain water collection, I do recommend taking a quick look at local laws and news regarding the subject. During my research, I discovered that quite a few locations in the United States have laws to prevent home owners from collecting rain water on their own property. Considering their current drought problems in the southwest United States, I hope they ease up on those laws soon.