How to Save Energy at Home; Collect and Use Rain Water

Rain barrels are relatively easy to make.

These days, water conservation is a big thing. We are all encouraged to limit use, and many appliances and fixtures in our homes are designed to minimize wasted water as well.
Things You'll Need:
• Building with gutters and downspouts.
• Also as noted in text.
The need:
It is no secret that water is a limited resource here on earth. For generations, we have been using water for everything from generating power to heating or cooling our homes and businesses, to carry our pollution from our manufacturing processes, and more.

Some background:
Many people in earlier times and even today in some cultures, have collected rain water for a variety of purposes. Pioneers to new lands were very conservative, and collected rain water for intermediate plant watering, or even for cattle and other animals. In fact, in earlier days, when air pollution was not as serious, settlers probably used rain water for human consumption as well. Today, I'd be a bit suspicious about the quality of rain water; we know acid-rain is a concern, and probably lots of pollutants are carried in today's rain.

Simple collection system you can build:
All you need is a couple of plastic containers (for example, new rubbish or similar type containers will work); some pvc tubing; some pvc valves, pvc cement, a few boards to build some stands; some downspout fittings; a razor knife or jig-saw; and a few other items.

To begin:
In order to be able to drain your rain barrels into buckets to make use of the water, you will need a stand for each one you intend to set up. The stands can be made from pressure-treated lumber, or other suitably strong material, and need to be sized for the container you chose. Height should be about the height of the buckets you intend to use under the drain spigot.