As water conservation becomes more important, people look to use water more wisely. Using rain water can be a simple and effective way to cut down on household water usage and save money. The key to a rain water collection system is a rain barrel. Follow these steps to plan a rain water collection system for your home. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Calculate the amount of rain water your roof collects in a year. An inch of rain produces 600 gallons of rain. Multiply 600 by the average number of inches of rainfall in your area. Multiply that number by how many thousands of feet of roof you have. That's how many gallons of water you can save by using a rain barrel collection system. For example, 600 gallons of water times 12 inches of annual rainfall is 7,200 gallons.
2. Figure out what you need for rain water collection. You already have the main ingredient, a roof! Most homes come equipped with downpipes from the roof. All that's left is a rain barrel.
3. Buy a rain barrel with a faucet or spigot on it or attach a faucet to an existing rain barrel. This faucet attaches to your garden hose for watering. Rain barrel sizes range from 40 gallons to 75 gallons.
4. Cover the barrel with wire mesh or a screen to keep bugs and debris out. Think about childproofing the top of the barrel to keep children out.
5. Check options that you might need, like an overflow valve that redirects water when the barrel is full. See if there is a way to connect two or more rain barrels if you want to expand your rain water collection system.
6. Connect your rain barrel to a downpipe from your roof, and you're in business with a rain water collection system.
Tags: rain water, rain barrel, water collection, collection system, rain water collection, water collection system
