Cool way to collect rain water – Rain Drops
15.8 years ago cheap, harvest, water
I came across this great new design and thought I would share. The inspiration is to provide a cheap way of capturing rainwater for developing countries. This would be a great way to prevent some water bottles from going into landfills but also a space saving way to capture some rainwater without requiring the large footprint or cost that rain barrel(s) can take up. No word on these going on sale yet, seems to be in the design stage but great idea.
![image[5]](https://i0.wp.com/www.cheapvegetablegardener.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/image5.png)
“The RainDrops system simply allows people to adapt standard plastic bottles to an existing gutter system to collect rain water. This changes water storage from the most to the least expensive part of the system. These are much easier to clean and replace than larger storage units. The repurposing of these plastic bottles will also give value to many bottles that are otherwise headed for landfills. Corruption in the water sector is a real problem in many developing countries. The scalability of this system helps to give more power to the communities in need.
Another large benefit to using plastic bottles as a water collection system is that it fits in nicely with the process called SODIS, which uses a combination of the suns UV rays and heat to remove pathogenic microorganisms that cause disease. This process is spreading across many developing countries due to its effectiveness and low cost. “
15.8 years ago
They look really cool!
15.8 years ago
WOW…how cool is that. I couldn’t afford the rain barrels. I have some neighbors that have some and it does take up alot of space. I love it.
15.8 years ago
They look like a great idea. However, I wonder if most people’s downspouts could support the weight of even 1 of those hanging around full of water, let alone the 65 pounds that 15 full bottles would contain as shown in one of the pictures. Those downspouts aren’t that sturdy.
15.8 years ago
I agree with Jimmy. It is a neat idea but some way to support the weight of the full bottles would need to be devised.
15.8 years ago
I had the same thought as you guys about weight. Given the angle I would imaging almost half of the weight would be transferred to the horizontal axis. With some smaller bottles a little support still think it could be feasible, though doing it with standard aluminum drain spouts could be disappointing. There is also no reason the bottles need to be attached. Couple dollars worth of plastic tubing can have several 2-liter bottles on the ground.
15.8 years ago
Interesting, but I like my recycled corn syrup barrels (they each hold 55 gallons of water). Also what about the sun causing the BPA to leach into the water? not to mention having to remove all those bottles to use the water. I have a 385 gallon system and I use two 3 gallon watering cans and it takes me forever to water everything. I can’t imagine unsnapping all those bottles and then resnapping them.
15.8 years ago
THAT IS SOOOO COOOL ! I would love to have those on my downspouts!
15.8 years ago
I wonder how many nitrates would be transferred from leaves in the gutter to the rain water, rendering it unfit to drink.
15.8 years ago
i wonder if the designer thought about the problem of nasty things on the roof contaminating the water? birds poo too!
15.8 years ago
I too was worried about contaminates getting into the water, how could it filter them? Something in the hookup?
15.8 years ago
Funny design no question. Might work ok at best. I made my own rain barrels out of discarded 55 gallon pickle barrels from India. I bought the barrels for $10 each and spend $7 on a faucet and a few more for window screen for the top. In all we spent about $20 per barrel and two barrels watered about %50 during our last drought. See the link in my name to see my article on the rain barrels.
15.8 years ago
In most of the documentation it mentions use mainly for handwashing. Though I am sure with a little precaution could be used for drinking. I know for most of us have the ability to use drinkable water for washing hands, watering our lawn, and flushing our toliets could definately be a decent alternative for some not as lucky.
15.8 years ago
It is definitely suitable for watering your lawn and garden. It would be questionable for hydroponics from dissolved salts and pH, but would definitely work for aquaponics for growing fish and plants.
15.8 years ago
I love how the concept of this design is aimed towards people who collect rainwater for a mainstay of life. Areas where debris would be more typical in the gutter render this idea almost ridiculous. Anyway, it seems like attaching hoses would work. Although I don’t really know how feasible it all is. (Living in the Pacific Northwest and whatnot.)
15.8 years ago
As far as using this for drinking water- I would purchase a filtering system from REI or some other outdoor store. But, While I sppreciate that most of us have rain collection systems, again I say this is so cool!
15.8 years ago
The problem with this idea is that in most developing areas where rainwater harvesting has the potential to have an impact on health/quality of life, it is roof structure and the presence of gutters that keep people from harvesting rainwater. Barrels/tanks can be quite inexpensively made.
8.3 years ago
Where can I buy the bottle caps, I really need these for my studies project.