Rain Water
It is very easy to take water for granted. In the UK we tend to have easy access to water, but it will be a shock to many to hear that certain parts of England are suffering from water shortages.
Rain water collection can help with this problem. Rainwater collection is simply harvesting rainwater that would normally go to a total waste. The concept is to make use of water that falls out of the sky which can simply be used for a great number of purposes as an alternative to just relying on mains water supply. Rainwater harvesting is not a new concept as it has been practiced for centuries and still is in various countries around the world.
The water butt
· One of the most popular ways of harvesting rainwater is to place a water butt on your down-pipe. The ‘water butt’ method of collecting water is popular in the techniques of water collection as it is cost-effective and easy to use. The rainwater can be used for gardening purposes and even car washing. If you have a big garden you can fit two water butts next to each other from the same downpipe to retrieve extra water.
Pump and Filter
· Another way of collecting water from the rain that falls is by using a simple harvesting rainwater pump and filter. The pump causes a pressurised system that can then be used in conjunction with a hosepipe. Thus this is great for watering the garden or washing the car using a hosepipe.
Rain water uses
· Simply rain water can be used for many outdoor purposes such as cleaning the car or watering the garden , to flush the toilet and filling the washing machine. If the end result is the same then why not use rainwater instead of mains water and save money. Collecting rain water has other positive benefits as well. One major one is that rainwater produces less build-up of calcium deposits in appliances.
The use of rainwater around the house
· Your regular supply of mains water could be substituted for rain water. You can use rain water for washing up and flushing the toilet. Rain water should always be filtered and siphoned.
· You can install a tank next to your house, you should think about a number of things first. For instance, the size of the tank will be dependent on how many people live in the house, the amount of water you will all be using, and various other factors. Once you have decided on which tank to install, the rainwater will be filtered and pumped into a header tank in the loft of your home where it is distributed into a household and non-drinking supply. You should note that you will have to make some changes to your internal plumbing so that the rainwater supply will be separated from the water supply.
Some final thoughts
· With rain water you can save a lot of money as water rates are continuing to rise. It seems that more people are considering the rainwater harvesting option. If more of us realised that we do not need to use water from the mains supply for many of the domestic chores, we would save a lot of water. There are many positive benefits of using rain water around the home. Therefore the use of Rain Water should not be dismissed but seriously considered.
