Collecting Rainwater

How did it go: Water, Water Everywhere but not a Drop to Drink...
That quote is soon going to be an utter lie when we consider what's happening to our natural water resources. The earth's major water sources come from 1) Oceans (salt water) 2) Fresh Surface Water and 3) Fresh Ground Water. Fresh Ground Water makes up the vast majority of all fresh water. This water remains in the underground aquifer for over 1,000 years - and so do pollutants that contaminate that water.

HORRIFYING WATER POLLUTION FACTS From epa.gov :

• 40% of America's rivers are too polluted for fishing, swimming, or aquatic life.


• Even worse are America's lakes—46% are too polluted for fishing, swimming, or aquatic life.


• Two-thirds of US estuaries and bays are either moderately or severely degraded from eutrophication (nitrogen and phosphorus pollution).


• The Mississippi River—which drains nearly 40% of the continental United States, including its central farm lands—carries an estimated 1.5 million metric tons of nitrogen pollution into the Gulf of Mexico each year. The resulting hypoxic coastal dead zone in the Gulf each summer is about the size of Massachusetts.


• 1.2 trillion gallons of untreated sewage, stormwater, and industrial waste are discharged into US waters annually. The US EPA has warned that sewage levels in rivers could be back to the super-polluted levels of the 1970s by the year 2016.


• In any given year, about 25% of beaches in the US are under advisories or are closed at least one time because of water pollution.'


• Asian rivers are the most polluted in the world. They have three times as many bacteria from human waste as the global average and 20 times more lead than rivers in industrialized countries.


• In 2004, water from half of the tested sections of China's seven major rivers was found to be undrinkable because of pollution.'


• In one week, a typical cruise ship generates:
  -210,000 gallons of sewage;
  -1,000,000 gallons of "gray water" from showers, sinks, dishwashers and clothes washers;
  -37,000 gallons of oily bilge water;
  -more than eight tons of solid waste; and
  -toxic wastes from on board operations like dry cleaners and photo processing laboratories.

So what can we do about all of this...

Well for starters, I'm going to start collecting my own rainwater to recycle for watering my yard and garden. There are lots of expensive rain water collection systems available to purchase but I suggest using this as a DIY project to save money.

DIY ways to make a rain barrel -

1. From the City of Bremerton Website
2. EPA's How to Make a Rain Barrel Page
3. Southwest Florida Water Management District this site even has a video!!

Don't forget to check ebay and craigslist for inexpensive barrels - just be sure they were not used for chemical storage.

Once I get my barrel up and running I'll take some pictures :)