Save rain - save the World? - Rainwater Harvesting and how it can help.

Are you frustrated that governments, international agencies and leaders seem unable to do anything about climate change or global warming, the depletion of our natural resources or preventing natural disasters? Would you like to do something about it yourself? Maybe it's the time to stand up and be counted. Express your individual responsibility for the destiny of the world. You are probably already co-operating with your local council in recycling as much waste as possible. You have double glazed the windows, increased insulation and turn lights off whenever possible to reduce your energy consumption. Are you thinking about solar or wind energy? Yes, but there seem to be some obstacles, not least of which is how little the sun shines in the UK at the times you need the energy.

Now things are a little bit clearer for rain water harvesting. We have high levels of rainfall. Collecting it is simple from an engineering and planning point of view. So you have a simple means of reducing your dependency on the mains water supply, and increasing your protection against the effect of droughts on your garden watering, car-washing and other domestic use. You don't need to use drinking water to flush your toilets or supply your clothes washing machine! In fact in an average home 50% of domestic water use does not need mains water at all... rain water is fine.

Put it another way. Does it seem ridiculous to you that a money-making conglomerate processes water centrally, pipes it huge distances to get to your house, and loses a high percentage from pipe leaks on the way? What a waste of energy. Then you dump 99% of it down the drain when you've used it, to be piped back to that same company in a sewer. Most homes in the UK will soon have a water meter, so they'll be charging you for what you use. Why not process the rainwater from your own roof, use it around the house, and reduce your dependency on the water company.

Whatever your feelings on the environmental and economic issues, you can take simple steps today to use your own rain water. The simple act of installing a water butt in the garden, will not only give you water for the garden when it's dry but will also reduce your use of mains water for watering the garden. Or take a bigger step and ask us to calculate the cost of a built-in system, header tank in the roof, and piping to be able to reduce mains water consumption in the house.