The Big Picture


Did you know you can easily capture delicious rainwater for home use? It's easy, and (so far) rainwater is free! All you have to do is get one of our rain barrels and let it fill up with water when it rains. How? Hook it up to the gutters on your roof, or some other easy way of capturing the water that falls on your roof or property.

Why It's Important


Rainwater harvesting is an easy and highly effective way to capitalize on the extreme shifts in weather patterns we are experiencing and help alleviate the demand for water. With much of the US in drought conditions, the idea of just keeping the water that already falls on our houses is an obvious solution to water scarcity problems.

The average U.S. household uses almost 150,000 gallons of water per year with up to 50% of water going to landscaping during summer months. Installing a rainwater harvesting system is one way to reduce outdoor water use by collecting water during the rainy season that can be used during droughts. By capturing water on a 1500 square foot roof, a family could reduce their water bill by 50% and save 43,000 gallons of water yearly.*

There are so many other great benefits to harvesting rainwater:

• Keeps relatively clean water out of the sewer for future use
• Keeps chemicals out of our water by diverting water from treatment plants
• Reduces the demand and energy of transporting water from far away places
• Reduces the amount of water flowing into storm systems during peak flow times and thereby helps to eliminate flooding
• Reduces the use of potable water used for non-potable applications including gardening and toilet flushing
• Saves money on your water bill!

How It Works


The unused rainwater that falls upon our roofs can be gathered and used for a whole host of applications, ones that require both potable and non-potable water. Most people use rainwater to water their yards or gardens but it can also be hooked up to your home plumbing to be used for toilet flushing, or purified, filtered or distilled for human consumption.

Gathering rainwater is easy to do with only a few simple changes to your regular gutter system. In the majority of systems sold by Green Home, water is filtered while collected to remove debris, and is then stored in the rain barrels.

Why It's Easy


Rainwater catchment systems are coming back in vogue all across the United States - partly because a new generation of tools and techniques make the systems very easy to install and maintain! All the systems sold by Green Home come with easy-to-use and complete instructions, telephone support and a money-back guarantee.

What Do I do?


Buy a rain barrel on sale from Green Home, hook it up and start enjoying life off the water grid!

Rain barrels come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Many are made of recyclable plastic and are easy to keep clean. Some have attractive designs and look great leaning against your house like this one: Recyclable Rain Barrel. You can also store them in less obvious places or get one that fits into a tight space like the thin rectangular one here: Rainwater Storage Tank.

Great Information on Rainwater Harvesting:


Here is a Great Rainwater Guide: Design for Water: Rainwater Harvesting, Stormwater Catchment, and Alternate Water Reuse

Excellent resource documents for installing a rainwater system (Courtesy of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission): San Francisco Rain Water Brochure
San Francisco Installing a Rain Barrel

Some Fantastic Articles on Rainwater Harvesting:


Kenya finds solution to multiple problems with gathering rainwater: http://www.alternet.org/water/135403/rainwater_harvesting_seen_as_solution_for_drought_and_flood_control/

California drought causing rainwater harvesting industry to grow: http://www.postchronicle.com/news/business/article_212222094.shtml

*http://www.southface.org/web/resources&services/publications/factsheets/27_rainwater-recovery-v2.pdf

Once you set up your rainwater harvesting system, you can use that water to water your new Eco-Friendly Garden and the wonderful compost that comes from your new Compost Bin.