Hey guys, we all know how important every drop of water is. In some of the countries, there is severe water scarcity and hence it is very important to use water frugally and conserve rain water. I live in an apartment and recently we have taken a decision that we should set up a rain water conservation pit to trap the natural rain water. The water can then be used for watering the garden and the plants or for daily household activities. In case the water becomes excess, we have set up a path for the water so that it goes into the regular water storage tank. Rain water is precious and should not be left to go wasted into the underground. Instead, we can use it for useful activities. I would like to know your ways of conserving rain water.
Assuming the rainwater isn't coming from polluted clouds, the idea is excellent. For one thing, in many areas the water underground isn't safe and in some places the city water has too much chlorine. However, I'm wondering if rainwater still needs to be treated or have some other special thing done to it. Finally, one place where people definitely need rainwater is on the ocean. I'm sure navies of the world have advanced ways of collecting rainwater as ocean water cannot be consumed unless the salt is taken out.
I have posted in another thread that I am extravagant when it comes to watering our garden. I am a plant lover and during summer, I really spend a lot of water for irrigating my plants twice a day. But after a reprimand from my wife, I now store rain water in containers tha I use to water my plants during the dry season. We have more than 10 bottles that has a capacity of 5 gallons where I store collected rain water. At least it can lessen the water expense when there is no rain.
A neighbor of mine does a lot of watering too. She has a large plastic garbage can set up in the laundry room, and after she washes a load of clothes, when the rinse water starts to run out, she takes the hose out from behind the washing machine and lets the rinse water run into that garbage can instead of running out into the pipe. She uses that water on some of the plants. I have a 2 liter bottle that I leave outside in the front of my house. When it rains, if I happen to catch some water in that bottle, I can use it to water my plants. I don't really collect rainwater, but sometimes I will "wash" my car when it is raining outside, that is to say just put a little soap on a towel and go over my car with it, and let the rain do the rest.
We have a laundrywoman who takes care of our clothes twice a week. What she does with the used water is to clean the concrete front yard using a big brush and that soapy water. Afterwards, she rinses the front yard using the water that she rinsed the clothes with. It is good because the front yard serves as the toilet of our 3 dogs so at least it is regularly cleaned of the dirt and odor.
Since we were kids, we had learned this practice from our parents and even our brothers. They had made a receptacle for the rain water. They had a filter for it and the water saved from the rain is used for the battery solution. In the first place, when I saw this I had wondered why they were doing that since we have a potable water from the pipe coming from the spring and also we had deep well with a crystal clear water.
I have always kicked myself for not doing this. I guess I give myself a little break because most of the place where I have lived have not really been conducive to it, but now is the time I think.
@Alexandoy I think it's great that you have a laundrywoman, especially one who goes the extra mile of rinsing your front yard off for you. I love doing laundry myself, and even if I had surplus cash to the point where I could afford to have someone come over and do my laundry, I think that I would still do it all myself.
Really, in some part of the world there is the problem of water and indigenes have to device means to trap rain water for use. Depending on the intended use of the gathered water, if it's for agricultural purposes this may not require much of a further treatment. For domestic purposes it should be treated, also it should be noted that rain water is a bit acidic because of the combination of the water with trioxocarbonate ions and treated accordingly.
Because of population growth and global warming, water, which consists 1/3 of earth's landmass, is drying. Therefore, it is mandatory that we save water. Since few years, the government is flouting an idea of "rain water harvest" in our country. The government is suggesting the citizens to build water collecting tanks on the roofs of the houses. Rainwater conversation pit is another idea flouted by our government.
