Water: Collection

Tired of paying high water bills? Have you heard of the ways you can use a rain catcher to lower those bills? You probably also didn't know that 623 gallons of water can be harvested from 1 inch of rain on a 1,000-square-foot roof and as far as rain barrels are concerned, a typical 1/2-inch rainfall will fill a 50- to 55-gallon barrel. I'm sharing everything I know about making rainwater collection an efficient way to lower your bills and help the environment.

While on the Cool House Tour in Austin last weekend, we came across one charming home in the middle of the city. The house itself was downright lovely, but what left us awestruck was the backyard. On their moderately-sized city lot, the family had an incredible veggie garden, six clucking hens in a covered run, a three-bin composting system, and a 2,000-gallon rain tank.

These clever tips help keep your cash where it belongs -- in your pocket!

Build it yourself for less than $100.

These barrels collect water off the roof where it heats up warming the greenhouse in the winter.

To feel truly self-sufficient and live off-the-grid, you need a running water source on your land, or you need to be able to drill a well. You cannot rely on harvested rainwater alone… You can pay a company to come onto your land and drill…

Using parts easily obtained at a local hardware store and a plastic drum or barrel, learn how to build a simple, small scale, rain collection system. During dry seasons, the same drum can be used to meter out precise amounts of tap water...

We'll share how to make a rain barrel (or find one that's cheap or decorative), plus installation and maintenance tips for rain water collection.

Hey, there! If you like this post, you'll love my weekly newsletter. Sent every Sunday morning, it's about creative projects, ambitious goals, great reads, delicious snacks, tiny budgets, and my latest Trader Joe's obsession. Think personal blogging circa 2007, but in email form. Sign up, and I'll see you this Sunday! Note: This is a first for Better Than Never - a guest post, written by my very own Nathan! If you've ever thought about building a rain barrel for your garden, look no further…

In this video from the Youtube channel, Starry Hilder Off Grid Homestead, Starry goes over 7 common mistakes people make when harvesting rainwater.

Simple Pump manufactures high-quality water pumps perfect for your deep well. Our hand pumps are a perfect backup water pump that can be converted to a motorized water pump in minutes. Simple Pump also provides off-grid solar-powered water pumps.

The RainSaucers rainwater collection system is a patent-pending, low cost, easy to deploy rainwater harvesting system that catches rain straight from the sky (no roof required).

Strathclyde Mechanical Engineering student project, 2007.To build a human-powered water pump that could be used to irrigate farm land.They used two cylinders...