8 Ways to Recycle Rainwater at Home

The rainy season is here. It’s a good time to consider the positive effects that rainwater recycling brings. When we really think about it, most of us here in the Philippines associate the rainy season with bad weather and disastrous floods. Water recycling usually comes to mind during the dry season because the hot weather is very evident to us. However, practicing it during the rainy season will be great as an additional source of water and likewise decrease your water bill.

Here are 8 Clever Ways to Recycle Rainwater at Home:

Create a rainwater collecting and storage system in your home. It’s simple to build one on your own. The three elements of any rainwater harvester are the collection area (anywhere falling rain doesn’t soak in to the ground), the transportation system (the gutters and downspouts along the edges of your roof) and the storage facility (where you store and collect the rainwater).

The heart of the rainwater collecting system is the storage facility. You can use either a barrel, drum or a big pail. Let’s get started.

Step 1 – Clean the drum thoroughly

Step 2 – Create a spigot hole

Step 3 – Install the spigot

Step 4 – Create base for collection barrel or drum (cinder blocks will do)

Step 5 – Cut a hole on the top of the barrel or drum

You can now directly put the drum or barrel at the end section of the gutter. After collecting rainwater, you can use it for a number of purposes, either indoor or outdoor.

Outdoor

• Watering the garden

Free of the salts, minerals, and chemicals that are found in municipal treated water, rainwater is pure hydration.

• Pond Fillers

Since it contains no chlorine, rainwater is also ideal for filling garden ponds and irrigating sensitive plants.

• Washing the car

Rinse off stubborn pollen, stuck on bugs, and even bring a bit of shine back to that old, weathered paint.

• Cleaning the walls outside the house

Wash off the outside walls of your home from things such as dirt, dust, leaves, pollen, mildew, mold, cobwebs and bird or bat poo.

Indoors

• Toilet flushing

It’s about flushing rainwater, not money, down your toilets.

• Cleaning the toilet

Why use potable or tap water when there’s “free” water around?

• Laundry

Rainwater is low in minerals, so it is ideal for laundry.

• Cleaning shoes

Use rainwater for rinsing shoes after washing it with soap.

Recycling rainwater is an age-old practice that’s regaining popularity as fresh water resources become more scarce and water costs continue to rise. We all know that it’s important to prepare our homes for the rainy season but we should also learn to appreciate water from the skies because it fulfills a multitude of uses. By recycling rainwater in our homes, we do our share in helping the environment as well.

Do you have tips of your own on how to recycle rainwater? Feel free to share it with us in the comments section.