In this video we’ll explain what is rainwater harvesting and how it works. Rainwater harvesting sometimes also known as rainwater recycling, is the collection of rainwater with the purpose of putting it to good use. Rainwater that falls freely from the sky can be used for many things. We don’t need to use main’s water for everything. In fact, rainwater can actually be better than main’s water for certain things. Rainwater harvesting is a simple process and typically involves the following five steps. Firstly, rainwater falls onto the roof of a property. Then rainwater is channeled through the guttering and downpipes into an underground or sometimes an aboveground rainwater tank via a filter. The filter is positioned either in the top of the rainwater tank or prior to it, and the rainwater passes through it before being stored in the tank. The filter cleans the rainwater on its way in and it prevents any leaves, moss, or debris from getting into the tank.
The clean rain water is then stored inside the tank ready to be used. Then finally, the rain water is then pumped from the underground tank to its point of use, either an external tap for garden irrigation or for car washing, or to a toilet for flushing or to feed a washing machine. Rain water is great for garden irrigation, even better than main’s water. It can be also better than main’s water for washing machines as rainwater is soft, which means less buildup of lime scale in your washing machine. It’s ideal for using for flushing toilets because it’s free. It prevents people from needing to flush at main’s water, which is water that is paid for down the toilet. In the UK, it is also readily available almost every single month. We love our summers and our warm British sun, but let’s face it, we rarely wait a long time between rainfall showers. The good news is that when you put it to use through rainwater harvesting, even if that’s just in the most simple way possible by using a water butt and collect rainwater for your garden, you’ll have a reason to smile when the rain breaks through every now and then. You’ll realise the benefit firsthand, and then you’ll join us in saying that we love rain.
