How to Flush Your Toilet Using Rain Water

jchait — Sat, 03 May 2008 18:44:55 -0400

If you've ever built a rain barrel, or harvested your own rain water in some way, then you know how easy it is. You can use rain water to water your yard, wash your car, and any number of other uses. What if you could fairly easily use rain water to flush your toilet? Think of all the water you'd save.

Some house do utilize rain water for flushing, as do public buildings, so the possibility is reasonable for you if you own a home. Recently I saw a cool post at Seattlepi.com - at their reader blog section. The post, Flushing Your Toilet with Rainwater, covers a neat resource,a Rain Barrel to Toilet Installation Guide.

The individual who wrote this guide did a good job. It's not hard to follow and there are some great illustrations - both photos and diagrams. It's also a easy project to find parts for; this person snagged everything from the local Home Depot. The guide even discusses extras like backflow protection; a step not required in all states, but it's there, and is simple. Also extra a nice bit about attaching a water meter inside, so you can see just how much you're using. Best of all the entire installation cost around $100. A steal!

Best of all, of course are the environmental impacts. Curiously, the guy who did this is living in Seattle. Being in Oregon and the Washington myself, people often act like water conservation is a joke; I mean, we have so much rain. But rain coming down, does not equal plenty to go around. We still need to conserve when possible.

Learn more:

How Much Do You Know About Water Use?

A Delicate Balance

jchatraw — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Working on a farm while growing up in rural South Carolina, rain was always the topic of the day. One farmer friend of mine was so superstitious about the rain that he believed my brother could actually bring it to a field. (Now my brother is no rainmaker, proven time and again during his deployments to the Middle East desert while serving in the military; however, he does have this weird thing with watches where they go haywire after making contact with his skin.) And though rain was a mainstay topic of conversation among southern farmers, many easily irrigated from the plentiful water tables underground. Things aren't so simple out here in the Northwest, reminding me of our planet's delicate balance.

In the neighboring state of Oregon, there is a serious battle being waged between the state's lawmakers, tribal representatives, farmers, the governor's office and conservationists over how to provide more water for farmland in the state's eastern region. A plan to draw down the Columbia River was quickly tabled as the groups couldn't decide on what route to take. Drawing down the river would impact the region's native salmon, which could cripple other parts of the economy, not to mention toying with vital natural resources.

Progress is being made and a good solution seems to be emerging. However, I can't help but be reminded that, despite our progress as a civilization, there are some decisions we must weigh carefully. One misstep could endanger a species of fish native to a river or even damage one group of people's way of life for generations. Handling life's delicate balance is something I take seriously and I hope decision makers are just as pensive before sacrificing the long-term picture for the short term.