water of life

here in the blogosphere, we preach to our faithful readers to be about action! don’t just sit and blog about it- go out in real world time and do something about it!! well, i feel the same way about global climate change. i have no clue what can possibly be done to fix things or stop things from happening. i read again where entire ecosystems of animals, fish and insects are disappearing and dying out. the bug eaters and pollinators- not to mention the songbirds. but i digress from my original subject which is- water. we can all probably stand to lose a few pounds, me included, so i doubt like hell we would starve to death anytime soon- but water is a different matter. we can only last a few days- a week or so at most- without water to drink. so- it’s an ugly fact that there have been and will be more- droughts and water shortages all over the world. only about 1% of the entire planet is made up of potable water and much of that is polluted. so- we are in a dilemma. my plan is to start storing bottled water- as much as i can- and to look at ways to lessen my overall water consumption when possible. we take for granted turning on a tap and having water to drink. but most of the developing world has to get by on 5 gallons of water a day- for everything. flushing your toilet once can use that up in a heartbeat.

which got me thinking about gardening and whatnot. i need water in order to be self sufficient- and to grow the food we need to survive should things get really bad- and folks it ain’t looking pretty. the veggies and grains grown around the world to global markets are largely the result of genetically modified seeds and heavy fertilizer and water use. not good. i don’t want to feel guilty when i eat a tomato and i don’t want to worry about whether it’s a frankenmato or the real deal. i invested in heirloom seeds this year and i plan to save them to use from each crop so that i know exactly what it is that i am eating. (the seed savers website had lots of great resources as well as seeds and plants). so, i am going to store what i can- and raise what i can and be as frugal as i can- so that my life can be better.

back to the water catching and storing. there is lots of info out there on cisterns- and much of it runs to the in ground variety. i don’t want to go that route because i don’t want to have to get a building permit and excavate and spend large amounts of money. for a few hundred dollars, i can put together an above ground cistern and camoflage it any way i want. i could put together a series of rain barrels also- but they don’t hold enough for what i have in mind.

i want to be able to have water on hand to water my plants and clean and bathe and for life’s necessities as needed because this water would be unpurified. ok to wash and clean with but not so much for drinking- although you can modify the systems for use within the home too. i always start my research by googling various topics and i have a million bookmarks- so i tried to pick a few to share. these give an idea of what rainwater harvesting is- and it comes from a few different places around the country. obviously, more info is found in places that are historically dry- but the ideas can be used anywhere. you don’t have to buy rain barrels or cisterns either- if you are handy- you can do it yourself. links below:

rainwater harvesting

strategies of rainwater harvesting- pdf

what is rainwater harvesting?- pdf

urban rainwater harvesting

comparing storage solutions