What Can You Do with Harvested Rainwater?

In a world where water is becoming more and more scarce – and therefore more and more valuable – the idea of being able to harvest your own water is becoming increasingly appealing. Given the sheer amount of water that falls from the British sky, it seems somewhat bizarre that within a few weeks we are then seeing hosepipe bans and people talking about water shortages.

There are many reasons why personally harvesting the rainwater that falls around your own property is a good idea. Using the resources that nature has given us – for free – is a great place to start. It can save you money, reduce waste, and lessen the burden on the water system.

Here are some of the benefits of using a rainwater harvesting system in your home:

• It can lessen the strain on the water system in general.
• It is an eco-friendly option to helping to reduce water wastage.
• Harvesting your rainwater can help you to store extra water for the dry months.
• It can save you money – you don’t pay for the water that you have harvested yourself.
• You can reduce the number of chemicals added to the mains water system by cutting down on your use of it.
• Harvesting your rainwater can help to reduce the risk of floods and waterlogging by redirecting the water somewhere else.
• It’s easy to do!

How to Harvest your Rainwater

Put simply, harvesting your rainwater means essentially collecting the water as it falls and then storing it somewhere safe until it can be used.

It begins with a set of drains and gutters that can collect the rainwater as it falls and channels it into a tank such as a water butt. Water butts can then be used to store the water which is usually then used in the garden for watering plants and such like. Generally speaking, water that is used for gardening purposes does not need to be well-filtered as bits of dirt or organic material will not affect it.

If, however, you are looking to use your harvested rainwater for more complex uses, including in the home, a more complex system is required to enable you to direct the water to wherever it is needed.

You can choose between an Indirect (gravity) domestic system or a Direct domestic system. A gravity-fed water tank system uses the principles of gravity to collect the rainwater in the tank before it is distributed throughout the home. When (if) the rainwater runs out, it is topped up with mains water to ensure that you continually have running water.

A direct domestic system will pump the water directly through to the appliances that need it. Again, the mains water will top up the system when it is needed so that you do not run out of running water.

What to do with your Harvested Rainwater

Within the home, several appliances can use harvested rainwater. However, there are some things that it is not necessarily suitable for if the water has not been treated properly.

Some of the most common uses for harvested rainwater include:

• Gardening and watering plants, filling up birdbaths, and refilling ponds. Rainwater is more natural and will not contain the additional chemicals that are added to mains water, meaning that it is believed that rainwater is actually better for plants and ponds.
• Washing the car – harvested rainwater is ideal for car washing.
• Toilet flushing – you can connect your rainwater source to the toilet cistern, meaning that the rainwater is used when you are flushing the toilet instead of mains water. It is estimated that flushing toilets account for up to about 30% of the water used in the household, so this can make a huge difference. It is important to remember, however, that you will also need to connect the cistern to the mains water in case the harvested rainwater runs out.
• Clothes washing can take up to about 35% - 40% of a household’s water each week. Harvested rainwater can be used to supply the water for washing your clothes. Although you might need to filter the water and treat it to an extent, you will not need to treat it as you would to enable you to drink it for it to be used for clothes washing.
• Harvested rainwater is great for doing household cleaning, including using in power washers, windows, and floors. It is recommended that you filter it before using it in mechanisms such as power washers, however.
• Filtered rainwater can be used to feed pets and animals as well as washing them.

Although there are many different ways that you can use harvested rainwater in the home, unless you fully treat it, it is not recommended that you drink harvested rainwater or use it for bathing – especially at hot temperatures.