How to Harvest Rainwater

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If you live in a naturally dry environment harvesting rainwater is a great way to conserve and save a few pennies at the same time.

You'll need three things in order to collect rainwater: a collection area, a transportation method and a storage system.

The collection area can usually be something like the roof of your house. For example if you have a 40 x 25 foot roof, an hour of moderate rainfall can generate approx. 600 gallons of rainwater. Rather than have your gutters dump this water out into the gravel (or even worse, down the drain) you can develop a storage system and divert this precious resource to your garden!

Make sure your gutters have some sort of debris filter on them, you can buy these at your local hardware store or make your own from screens relatively inexpensively. You'll also want to make sure the opening of your collection bin has a similar screen to keep insects out of standing water.

Direct the downspouts into the storage bins. The bins should be held together via hose that connects from one barrel to another. Several places sell the collection bins or you could make your own with barrels, a hose, some connections and a spigot. Here's how to do it.

For overflow you can attach an overflow port near the top of the bin that can attach to a hose and direct overflow out into your garden.