Do you have rain-water system in your house/building? I think it's one of the best ways to save water and money if you have a system in place. I have a rain water storage system which the local government subsidies to encourage saving of water.
We don't have one. We rely much of our water supply from the local water district which maintains and treats water for our drinking needs. If you are talking on water storage for personal use, we have a big drum or container to collect rain water for our day to day needs in case there is a heavy downpour. At least with that resourcing technique, we could save water and even money for our monthly water bill.
When I was growing up we had a water barrel that collected rain. It was called a 'water butt' and it was really handy to use to water the garden. Especially when it hadn't rained for a while, it would save us money on water usage and also help towards not wasting any water. They do still sell 'Water Butt's' as I have seen them for sale in Wilko's. You should be able to find them in hardware and gardening stores.
This thread is just in time because the rains are starting to show its presence. We store rainwater for washing the yard and irrigating the garden. And since we don’t have an installed system like a cistern, we use empty 5-gallon plastic bottles for that purpose. We used to have drinking water delivered that’s why we had invested in about 10 such bottles that we don’t use anymore because of our drinking water filter. Those bottles are good for storing rainwater since it has caps that could keep the water clean and free from insects.
@Nakitakona Actually I was talking to official rain-water saving system which is used to supply the water for harvesting and domestic flushing system to save the Earth from drying up and save water for our future generations. I just took this picture from my backyard to give you an idea what we are doing to save natural resources
Harvesting Rain water is One the best ways to save big on water bills. The Trick is to install gutters on the edges of the roof ănd direct the water towards a tank. A day's rain collection can last a week.
Collecting rain water could be very helpful saving on water bill for activities that require water on large scale. Rain water is one very good source of water for agriculture. Developing a system that can store sufficieint rain water to be used on activities such as agriculture will be economical especially in places where water supply is still not fully developed and would need plenty water for crops during dry periods.
@tonyb You would be surprised to note that we use the water collected in the tank shown in the picture above on regular basis and also the water we use for our garden is also comes from the same tank. In case we do not have enough rain or water in this tank the local council supplies water from their resources and keeps it full. In case the water overflows it goes to tank at council's end.
This is a great idea and my Aunt had a rain barrel too when she was alive. She lives in a rainy part of the island and she kept a wooden barrel for her garden. We live in an apt. so we can't just do as we like. We have those water saving toilets and shower heads, turn off the water when soaping up or brushing teeth and catch our water when we do the dishes for our plants which are herbs like aloe, broad leaf plantain. You do save a lot of money with rain catching systems of any kind. We do what we can to save water. We turn off the lights when it's Sun down time for about a couple of hours for our apt. catches Sun rays directly when the Sun goes down saving money this way too.
Harvesting rainwater is really something to think about. If there is frequent rainfall then it would be a useful means of acquiring water that would be free and its usage could enable you to reduce your water utility cost.
Although I do not have a rainwater collection system at home, I have saved quite a bit of money and time this year with all of the rain we have had watering my outdoor plants and vegetables. I have rarely had to actually water my plants because the rain has been plentiful. It has saved me time to the point my gardens have been kind of self containing and self cared for after I initially planted my seeds. Downfall is that there has been so much rain that my hyacinth plants died early this spring due to water saturation. I plan to develope a rain storage system at home soon though.
Here, the apartment complexes which have more than a certain number of flats, are compelled to install rain water harvesting system. Ours is a place where there is only one river and two states are fighting for drinking water from the same source. So, more or less, we are dependent on ground water which is depleting due to reckless usage. Thus, rain water harvesting has become mandatory to recharge the water table to some extent.
@moondebi I had been in those parts of the country especially in Bangalore where water used to be in plenty a decade or so back but now some parts of the city are really struggling due to water shortage like White fields or Belanduru where a tanker of water consisting 10 KL water is being sold at $40-50. The situation is going out of the hands with every passing day despite the rules for conversation of rain water and water harvesting in place for a long time.
I saw a carwash using a rainwater storage system. They have been using it for quite some time. I think it works for them because they have been operating for years now. And they also have a windmill. I think it's a neat idea to conserve water and electricity.
We have a rain water harvesting system and here it is mandatory to have it and I think it is one of the best initiatives by the government. We use that water in emergency situations.
I have never heard of that system before but it would be a good idea to have that everywhere. It rains a lot here and it would save a ton of money and water to do this. Instead the water gets clogged and there are a lot of floods because the drains are full with trash if the government can't help keep the streets clean they can't come up with that great system.
We don't have a rain water system here but we do have a barrel at home that we use to harvest rainwater. We only use the rain water for watering the plants or cleaning some areas of the house. We don't store rain water on open containers because we're afraid that dengue-causing mosquitoes will use them to breed and cause illnesses like hemorrhagic fever. I think that it will take decades before the government can embark on projects to harvest rainwater on urban areas as there are more pressing problems than that.
This is one that I have thought of for some time now but never really took any action on it. We have a cabin far away that would be a good spot to try it out for, but still I would need a good amount of prep work.
One of the drawbacks of over population is the growing shortages of water. Since the world population is rising, water resources are drying. We need to save water as it is vital life force. One of the ways of saving water is collecting rain water. Popularly called rain water harvesting, rain water collection will help you save water. Rainwater is also very safe. In order to collect rain water, you will have to build water storage tank in the roofs.
Harvesting of rain water was probably the best idea man came up with after inventing fire that is. Here's how I look at it, rain comes from the clouds, the clouds float some thousand kilometers above us everyday. That has got to mean the water is safe for consumption right? At the same time using rain water for cooking and drinking is a very difficult idea to comprehend since we are used to tap water. The good news is, the tap water comes from rivers, which are filled up by rain in the wet season, so there, confidence regained. I have a tank outside my house which collects rain water which I use when there is water shortage in my area. The tank is small so the water can only go for a couple of days tops.
