I have a home in Salt Cay, Turks and Caicos Islands and I have the gutters and set up to all flow into my cistern....that is my only water source!
We have just received a good amount of rain so I hope my cistern is Full....

The people of Salt Cay need your help in containing a Large Developement that is being planned. The Whales and the Reefs will be damaged by developing and dredging our Historic Salt Salinas...whales make there winter passage right next to where they are planning to make a mega-yacht marina. The TCI Government says Salt Cay will be the first Green Island....how with all this destruction????????
Thank you....Salt Cay CIndi

A much better rain barrel design (it's patent pending) can be found here:
http://www.aquabarrel.com - No matter what rain barrel design you choose you should have a downspout diverter to take the barrel 'off-line' when necessary.

A very neat idea. They should put these in new housing developments.

Dear Brethern,

Tamil Nadu , one of the four southern states of India, has what I would probably call the maximum Rain water Harvesting structures in the world.One of the reasons this has been implemented is the fact that people living in the coastal districts have over the years have suffered from Salt water intrusion and increased salinity of the ground water, which was used for both drinking and other purposes.
With the installation of these structures , the salinity has gone down and the water table has raised.

Have you ever lived in New Zealand?
I have, and I learned a bit about Rainwater Catchments: A fair number of people living in NZ have systems where rainwater is diverted from downspouts, and then fed to a large storage tank. The tank itself can be on the roof, buried underground, or placed in a backyard where it can be hidden among the shrubs or plants. Here is a solution to provide potable water, or water for the vegetable garden and yard. Farmers located far from municipal water supplies utilize catchments systems to a greater degree. In the past, these systems became widely used even in suburban areas, where municipal water was readily available. However, more recently, we see less and less of these catchments and I suspect people have been persuaded to forgo the use of them in lieu of city water. After all, tanks, pipes and labor costs do add to the expense of a house, yet in the aggregate, these systems could be part of a global environmental solution for a water thirsty world.

I am so pleased to see so many people aware of the crisis faced by mankind today..We could very well be on the brink of extinction if we don't take this issue seriously.Unfortunately our governments do little or nothing to curb this problem....But I believe in the power of ONE.I believe we can reverse global warming by just influencing those around us to take positive steps...and then watch the chain reaction take place.God Bless this world and God Bless all those who work to keep it alive.

how can i contribute in my area? i live in a condo located on the milwaukee river. i am a few disabilities but am interested. i'm going to check out more of this site in just a bit but feel free to offer ideas or suggestions. i have lots of time on my hands right now. unfortunately no income untill ssi comes through (pray for me please :) )

This is great advice - I had never thought of these things. It is great advice to spread and I hope that people pass it along to make more sweeping changes.

we have to do something!
"Catch the rain" it's a great idea!..now we have to tell our friends..

Pd:
if this page can be in spanish, it will be better :)!

If we all could think about the earth as much as we think about the most important thing in our life, we could really make this work! everybody needs to add a little extra effort to stop the crisis!!! please help so we can have a bright and less stressful and safe climate for our children and grandchildren!

So, what can captured rain water be used for besides gardening purpouses?