Secrets to Saving Rain Drops

The Benefits of Saving Rain Drops© 

1. It is free; only cost is collection.
2. It lessens demand on the municipal water supply.
3. It saves money on utility bills.
4. It makes efficient use of a valuable resource.
5. It diminishes flooding, erosion, and the flow to storm water drains.
6. It reduces the contamination of surface water resulting in cleaner lakes, rivers, and oceans
7. It can be used to recharge groundwater.
8. It is good for irrigation. Plants thrive because stored rainwater is free from pollutants, salts, minerals, and man-made contaminants.
9. It is good for washing hair and laundry use since rainwater is soft and lowers the need for detergents.
10. It adds life to equipment dependent on water to operate, since rainwater does not produce corrosion or scale like hard water.

It rains a lot in Oregon, so what is the problem?  El Nino = No Rain?

 TOLEDO, OR — On Oct 13, 2015 Georgia Pacific closed its Olalla Reservoir to the public because the lack of water.  The reservoir is fed by a combination of rainfall, streams (currently dry) and surface water pumped from the Siletz River (currently too low to pump under GP’s permit with the state).

Even if Oregon had its normal water rainfall electricity is needed to pump the water.

• Tsunami – no  electricity  6 – 12 months
• Lose the Grid – no city water
• Electric solar pumping is possible but expensive.
• Hand pumping is hard work.
• Always no rain until late summer.

How much water can be harvested?

Toledo Average	Rain Inches		Gallons Sq  Ft
Jan	4.67		2.9421
Feb	3.78		2.3814
March	6.58		4.1454
April	3.84		2.4192
May	1.94		1.2222
June	1.37		0.8631
July	0.35		0.2205
Aug	0.2		0.126
Sept	0.63		0.3969
Oct	3.19		2.0097
Nov	6.57		4.1391
Dec	7.3		4.599
	40.42 per year		25.46 per year

Roof Sq Ft	Gallons
8	204
10	255
100	2546
1000	25465

Drinkable Water Cost

How do you make rainwater drinkable? The answer is simple. Don’t use the roof. If you use the roof and will have to filter the water.  Instead, collect rain straight from the sky.

Rainwater is naturally clean drinking water when it falls from the sky. It only becomes contaminated when it touches roofs, gutters and other surfaces.

For more Rain Drop Saving options   –  Click Here

Rain Saucers™

RainSaucers™ catch rainwater onto a food safe surface; it can easily serve as a source of drinking water.

48 inch – $60

59 inch – $75

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Rainwater for the Garden

It does not always rain when your garden needs it or you want to grow your garden in a spot where there is not a convenient source of water. When it rains, the water is caught and stored in the barrels.  If there is no rain, then the garden can simply access their stored water as needed that was caught with a RainSaucer™

Catching from the Roof – A study from the Texas Water Development Board explains that roof run-off, even after going through a First Flush, contains contaminants at levels above USEPA drinking water standards.

Therefore, you must use a

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Berkey ($50),Filter

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Sawyer ($35) Filter

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A DIY Sand Filter ($0)

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Water from the Roof

Leaves\Twigs – A Leaf Diverter ($29.88) is needed to prevent debris from trees from entering the system. The Diverter must deflect debris automatically away from the flow of water.

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Bird Droppings – A First Flush System ($35.99) is needed to separate the water from the dust, bird droppings and the roof grit into the storage tank.

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Storage of Water – 55 gallon Barrel ($25)

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275 gallon IBC tote ($125) can be used to store the rainwater.

 

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Complete Collection System #1 ($29.99)

A built-in reservoir channels rainwater flow from the sides of the downspout, while allowing debris such as leaves and dirt to go down the center. There are no Twigs/Leaves Diverter or First Flush features in this system.

This system is only 40% efficient at catching the available rainwater in the downspout

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Do it yourself (DIY) Collection System and save money

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DIY Leaves\Twigs Diverter – Make a simple basket to catch leave and twig.

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DIY First Flush\Filter Diverter – Our First-Flush Diverter retains the initial runoff from a roof in a section of 3 foot 2” PVC pipe that is capped by a screw fitting.

When the pipe is full, additional rainfall flows directly into the storage tank.

The hose bibb drip Flush screw plug is adjusted to slowly release the captured water so that by the next rain the pipe is empty and is ready for more water.

 

 

 

 

Visit our Rain Harvesting Systems

Free Workshops and Demos on all the above systems are held at different times through the year.

For Schedules and more information Contact: 541-996-3871 info@SaveRainDrops.com.

The Sustainable Living Center is located at: 6349 S Highway 101 Lincoln City, OR 97367.

Across the street from Street Car Village.