It doesn’t have to cost a lot of money to collect and store the rain water that falls onto your house. If you’ve already got the rain gutters and downspout in place, you’re off to a great start.

For simple rainwater harvesting systems, you can install and connect everything in a couple of hours. In fact, it’s easy to start with a couple of barrels and then expand later on, as your budget or water demands/costs increase.

Harvesting rain water (any kind of rainwater harvesting system) has 4 subsystems: Capture, Conveyance, Holding, and Distribution. This is assuming that the captured water will be used for irrigation systems and not consumed directly by humans or pets, in which case there would also need to be Filtration and Purification subsystems.

In the average home rainwater harvesting system, the capture system is the roof of the house and/or other buildings nearby. The main issue that comes up with the capture system is debris clogging things up. For this reason, it may be best to install screens above the rain gutters. If the mesh is too small it will have to be cleaned more often, so it’s usually best to choose a screen that is somewhat larger than the average gauge used on window screens.

The conveyance system in this example of the average house is made up of the rain gutters, downspout, and typically a diverter, which separates the flow into multiple tubes, each going to a rain barrel.

The holding system will of course be the rain barrels in this case. For larger operations, or in a place where there is not enough room, large tanks may be used and buried underground to serve as the holding area of collected rainwater.

The distribution system is where things can get as complicated as you like, with submersible pumps and connections directly to sprinklers, etc, but can be as simple as filling your watering can from one of the rain barrels.

If you’re excited to get started building your own system, you might consider buying everything you need from a rainwater harvesting store, such as Aarron’s Rain Barrels. These kinds of one-stop shopping sites can get you started right away, but can be on the expensive side. Yet, the payoff is you can get a complete system all at one place.

For some more affordable DIY options, there are a number of free plans and guides online, as well as ideas on finding cheap rain barrels.

http://www.rain-barrel.net/ is a good source for information about the various components and getting it all put together. Check out the categories on the right to find what you’re looking for.

Or check out this guide on how to camouflage rain barrels using wire mesh and vines, for more focus on the aesthetics of rain barrels.

Start by watching your water needs. Be sure to keep conservation a part of the equation, and keep your eye on the future, expanding your system when necessary. Water rates are not going down and harvesting rain water can be a very good investment if done wisely.

There are so many ways that water can be used more efficiently. Did you know that there are systems for recycling grey water (gray water is the water that’s been used in laundry washing, showering and what goes down the sink.) to automatically feed flower beds or garden plots? Check back for more water conservation news and good luck with your rain water harvesting projects.