From the category archives:

Rain Water Harvesting

Update: Bank Of America Tower, Greenest Skyscraper In The U.S.

April 2, 2009

A while back, MetaEfficient profiled what could be the greenest skyscraper in America, the Bank of America Tower in New York City. Located in midtown Manhattan at One Bryant Park, the 945-foot tall, 55-story structure is scheduled to open later this year. Here’s a closer look at some of the groundbreaking features that should help [...]

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High School Captures 280,000 Gallons Of Water Per Year

July 11, 2008

Our buildings and homes could capture all water we need on a daily basis. A great example of rainwater harvesting can be found at the Langston Brown Community Center and High School in Arlington, Virginia. The community center has two 24-foot-tall 11,000-gallon cisterns that store rainwater.

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A Clever Rainwater Diverter

February 21, 2007

The average roof sheds 160 gallons of rainwater per hour during a moderate rain fall. Rainwater is better for your garden than tap water: it is at ambient temperature rather than being cold, and it is not chlorinated or treated with chemicals.
The Garden Water Saver, is a device that attaches to your home’s downspout, and [...]

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Modern Rainwater Tank: The LUMI

October 6, 2006

Unfortunately, most rainwater tanks and cisterns are unsightly blocks of concrete or plastic. The LUMI Rainwater Tank, however, was designed by Katrina Logan to be visually appealing. It’s made of sculptural satin acrylic and can be made in a range of colors and sizes (250 liters – 1100 liters). The tank glows in the sunlight, [...]

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Heated Pools and Rain Water

November 2, 2005

We recommend rain water as one of the purest waters for baths and pools. Even in cities, rain can be purified easily. Most pollution falls in the first three minutes and the rest of the water can simply be filtered to a level where it will rival the purity of spring water or bottled water.
See [...]

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Octagonal Rain Barrels

July 6, 2005

Arid Solutions makes these unique and practical rain barrels. Their octagonal shape increases the durability of the barrel.
Each barrel has two overflow outlets, allowing you to connect multiple tanks together. The system show here is actually two 54 gallon barrels: one is stacked on top of the other for a total of 108 gallons.

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Recycled Rain Barrels

February 10, 2005

Aaron makes rain barrels out of recycled plastic, and runs an informative web site about rain water harvesting.
The 58 gallon rain barrels are made out of thick food-grade plastic, and can withstand both hot and cold temperatures. The barrels connect directly to the downspout of your rain gutter.
They are also paintable (with Krylon Fusion) for [...]

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Rain Water Harvesting Links

July 29, 2004

HarvestH20
This site has very comprehensive set of Rain Water Harvesting Links
"Harvest the Rain"
Article on rain water harvesting with lots of information.
Rainbarrel
Tutorial
From the
Maryland Environmental Design Program.
Another Rainbarrel
Tutorial
How to
build a simple rainbarrel.
The Garden Water Saver
Different Types of Rain Barrels and Water Systems for the Garden.
Composters.Com
Many kind of rain barrels for sale.
Rain Water Solutions [...]

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Producing Drinking Water from Rain Water

July 26, 2004

  

It is possible to produce pure drinking water from rain water
using a combination of devices costing around $300 total.
Here’s how to do it:

Install a roof
washer and a rain
barrel ($200). A roof washes diverts the first ten gallons or
so of rain water away from your barrel — it contains such things
as dust and [...]

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