Depending on the size of your garden, the summer months might see an unpleasant increase in your water bill. If you’re a dedicated plant parent, you don’t want your plants to go thirsty.
But you still want to cut down on expenses. Every penny saved is a penny that can go toward more plants, after all.
TikTok user @earthnailsandtails may have found the solution: harvesting rainwater.
How to Harvest
This DIY maverick claims he has captured over 800 gallons of clean water using his DIY Rainwater System.
The system is surprisingly simple. Rain falls from the sky onto the roof of his house. That water then travels down the roof and into a gutter.
The gutter funnels the water into a large debris filter. Through the filter, the water travels down a long tube called a sediment trap or first flush.
Once water has filled the tube, clean water travels through another tube into an IBC tote. A final filter at the top of the IBC tote catches fine sediment.
How does @earthnailsandtails store so much water? He has not one but three IBC totes all connected by tubes.
Despite the system’s simplicity, it’s also fairly sophisticated. It’s equipped with an overflow tube and an isolation valve.
If you’re not quite at @earthnailsandtails’s DIY level, you could install a rain barrel instead. A rain barrel won’t harvest the same volume of rainwater, but the installation will be much simpler.
Rainy Day Blues
Related: Woman Shares Her $50 DIY Irrigation System Using PVC: Garden Growth Hack
This TikToker remarks that his method is a legal way of capturing rainwater, implying that there are illegal ways of harvesting tears from the sky.
But that’s a bit misleading.
In fact, there are only two states that have restrictions in place: Nevada and Colorado. And even then, those restrictions are considered “very limited”.
Most states actually encourage rainwater harvesting with some even offering incentives for doing so. The regulations that do exist are typically in place to ensure that rainwater is only used for non-potable purposes.
According to the Federal Energy Management Program, rainwater harvesting regulations are determined by individual states. Check out their interactive map to understand the regulations in your home state.
@earthnailsandtails Collecting 800+ Gallons of Clean Water with a DIY Rainwater System! I’ve got a whole build video coming out soon 🔨 👌🏼 . . #rainwater #rainwaterharvesting #rainwatercollection #earthnailsandtails #homesteading #homesteadingskills #diy #diyproject #sustainability #rainbarrel ♬ original sound – Earth, Nails & Tails
Davin is a jack-of-all-trades but has professional training and experience in various home and garden subjects. He leans on other experts when needed and edits and fact-checks all articles.