harvesting rainwater

Harvesting Rain
Rainwater harvesting

Harvesting rainwater.
During heavy rain falls, a typical roof can produce hundreds of
gallons of water if you have connected few rain barrels. Rainwater
collected is for the garden, but preppers often get the idea to use
rain barrels to collect drinking water in an emergency. Rainwater
collected in rain barrels is an excellent water source for your
plants, but not necessarily for humans!

Harvesting Rainwater
The time to build a well is not when you're thirsty. As well, the
time to harvest rainwater is not when your plants are thirsty.

Prepare for your family today, by harnessing fresh water for
tomorrow. Water need not be scarce when you have a plan to
collect rainwater, direct your source of water to a storage, and
pump water to when and where you need it.

Rainwater harvesting provides preppers with an alternative water
supply, and it can help you save money!

Harvest rainwater for drinking?
Should a rain barrel be part of your emergency drinking water
supply? The answer is yes, in an extreme emergency, and with
caveats.

  • Does your rain barrel drain from the roof? Then no! This
    is not a good source for securing potable drinking water.
    Runoff from the roof is dangerous for drinking water because
    you can't filter it properly. Water collected from rooftops is
    no better than floodwater: do not drink! There are pre-
    filtration, filtration, and disinfection options to consider.

    Think of the unsavory ways this kind of water can be deadly:

  • Shingle runoff is toxic soup. The materials may contain
    asphalt, which is a semi-solid form of petroleum.

  • Foam roofs are toxic. Foam roofs might be energy
    efficient, but this Polyurethane insulation has been
    deemed as toxic. It not only affect asthmatics, but

  • Your roof collects debris. Leaves, dirt and debris will
    collect from whatever is blown to your roof.

  • Debris from pests. Droppings from crows and other
    birds, bats, squirrels, mice,rats, raccoons and possums
    end up on your roof. Bugs ~ especially cockroaches love
    dwell on your roof. Crows love to peck at tar and gravel
    roofs

How can you use a rain barrel for drinking water?
You can use a rain barrel water for drinking water if you follow
these guiding principals:

  • Allow water to fill freely into your barrel and not from the
    roof.

  • Don't place rain barrels near the septic tank.

  • Keep the rain barrel covered. A screem filter will help you
    filter leaves and other debris. Never leave any other
    openings.

  • Check for algae. Algae build-up happens when the water
    goes stagnant and barrel doesn't get fully drained.

  • Use a first flush-diverter. A first-flush diverter will further
    reduce contaminants.

  • Never drink untested water.

  • From there you must process your water with a water
    filtration system. Boiling rainwater won't purify your water,
    even though boiling kills viruses, parasites and bacteria that
    cause diarrhea.


Prepare for your family today, by harnessing fresh water for
tomorrow. Water need not be scarce when you have a plan to
collect rainwater, direct your source of water to a storage, and
pump water to when and where you need it.

Rainwater harvesting provides preppers with an alternative water
supply, and it can help you save money!
------------------------------------------------- Revised 02/01/2021
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Need a tank to get started?
Immediate right is a 600-Gallon Rainwater Collection above
ground tank. Imagine being able to water your garden for an hour
and its absolutely free! Rainwater stored in the collecting tank is
mostly used for watering landscapes and gardens. Using
rainwater instead of municipal water can help improve the health
of your gardens, lawns and trees. The proper use and
maintenance of this system can greatly reduce storm run-off into
local rivers and lakes. RTS rainwater collecting systems are
simple to install and are suitable for any household property size
or location. The tanks are manufactured using a commercial grade
polyethylene with UV8 inhibitors. This ensures that the storage
tanks will not fade or deteriorate over a period of 5 years.

Harvesting rainwater has four areas for your consideration:
    1. Location for collection (such as the roof of your home).
    2. A way to transport the water (drainage spouts and
    diverters).
    3. Place to store the rainwater (rain barrels).
    4. Use for the water (pump for watering your garden).

1. Rainwater collection.
Your rooftop is one of the best places for rainwater collection! A
house with a 2,000 square feet of roof could collect around 24
inches of rainfall, which could bring about 30,000 gallons of water
annually!

2. Drainage Spouts and Diverters.
You'll need drainage spouts and diverters to get the rainwater
where you need it ~ into rain barrels, cisterns and water storage
tanks.

3. Rain Barrels, cisterns and water storage tanks.

  • Great American Rain Barrel Company Rain Barrel. The rain
    barrel provides a large 60 gallon capacity to water your
    garden and plants. With its built in handles this barrel is
    easy to move when empty, so it can be located anywhere
    you have a down spout and plants that need water.

4. Rainwater Pumps.
Now you'll need a pump to get the water from your tank to your
crops.

  • The RainPerfect Pump. The RainPerfect pump and solar
    panel install easily and provide plenty of pressure to run
    water through a garden hose. The pump provides enough
    pressure to run most low pressure sprinklers, was a car or
    water just about anything around your home. A convenient
    solar panel captures natural energy from the sun eliminating
    the need for electrical power to charge the battery. This
    makes the RainPerfect pump ready to go anywhere, anytime
    and involves no additional utility cost for you.
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Above is the GoPlus Portable Rain Barrel.

Books on Harvesting rainwater:

  • Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond, Volume 1, 2nd
    Edition: Guiding Principles to Welcome Rain into Your Life and
    Landscape. Volume 1 helps bring your site to life, reduce your
    cost of living, endow you with skills of self-reliance, and create
    living air conditioners of vegetation, growing beauty, food, and
    wildlife habitat. Stories of people who are successfully
    welcoming rain into their life and landscape will encourage you
    to do the same!

  • Water Storage Tanks, Cisterns, Aquifiers and Ponds, by Art
    Ludgwig, pictured right, is the complete do-it-yourself guide to
    water storage. Rainwater Harvesting is an invaluable resource
    for designing, building, and maintaining water tanks, cisterns,
    and ponds, and sustainably managing groundwater storage will
    assist you with handling your independent water system, fire
    protection setup, and disaster preparedness plan, while
    keeping costs low and incorporating ecologically sound
    designs. It also includes building instructions for several styles
    of ferro-cement water  tanks.

Happy endings...
Water is life! Collect rainwater and cherish it.

Did you know that more than you use 40 percent of your water
outside your home, not inside it? If Americans saved 100 gallons a
year per person (the average daily use per person), the United
States would then save 30 billion gallons annually. Saving
rainwater can help conserve our other water for drinking in an
emergency. Such conservancy is good for your pocketbook as well.

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