Friday, March 19, 2004
HOW TO BUILD A RAINCATCHER
I am a rain farmer. Mine is the easiest job in the world. Every human needs to drink about 180 gallons of water each year. Uncountable gallons of pure rainwater fall from the sky every day. My job, and that of all rain farmers, is simply to extend a grateful hand and receive the bountiful harvest. Rainwater is a resource freely given to all. A RainCatcher harvesting structure can be set up in a day, at minimal cost, using whatever materials are at hand.
There are many ways to catch the rain. Any existing structure (house, school, medical clinic, factory, office building, train station, market, etc.) when retrofitted with rain gutters, plastic tarps on rooftops, and rain barrels, becomes a RainCatcher. In this way, each structure can be converted into a rainwater factory, ready to provide thousands of gallons of clean drinking water. Ordinary citizens become rain farmers.
Along with turning existing buildings into RainCatchers, free standing tent-like structures can be erected wherever a new source of drinking water is needed. The following description illustrates how to build a RainCatcher. Though there are countless ways to catch rain, one central theme applies to all models: Set up a roof structure for rain to fall on, then channel the water into containers for storage.
Materials Needed :
-tent poles
-plenty of rope
-tent stakes (steel or wood spikes)
-tent covering (tarps made from local materials)
-rolls of clear plastic sheeting
-water storage tanks (plastic containers suitable for storing drinking water- from 50 to 1,500 gallons)
-chlorine and/or iodine tablets (if necessary)
Many RainCatcher tents can be set up at key locations around a village or town. For however long the rainy season lasts, these simple rain water collection plants catch and store thousands of gallons of the purest drinking water available on the planet. With a consistent, reusable supply of storage containers, enough water can be caught and stored to last a community from one rainy season to the next. In full, opaque containers, water can be stored for an entire dry season. Chlorine and iodine tablets are readily available to add to any barrels that my have become contaminated by airborne/dust-borne bacteria.
This description is for a square shaped RainCatcher tent (click DIAGRAMS to see sketches)Through experimentation, any shape or size can be adapted to the requirements of site and use. For example, if a single 1000gal water tank is available, tarps can be attached to the top of the tank and rise outward and upward to perimeter poles, creating a big funnel to channel rainfall into the single storage tank. Another example : set up safari-type canopies and place rain barrels around the edges.With any RainCatcher, the bigger the tent surface area, the faster the storage containers will be filled.
The only limit to how much rain water can be collected and stored is how many tent structures can be erected and how many storage containers can be rounded up.
There are many ways to catch the rain. Any existing structure (house, school, medical clinic, factory, office building, train station, market, etc.) when retrofitted with rain gutters, plastic tarps on rooftops, and rain barrels, becomes a RainCatcher. In this way, each structure can be converted into a rainwater factory, ready to provide thousands of gallons of clean drinking water. Ordinary citizens become rain farmers.
Along with turning existing buildings into RainCatchers, free standing tent-like structures can be erected wherever a new source of drinking water is needed. The following description illustrates how to build a RainCatcher. Though there are countless ways to catch rain, one central theme applies to all models: Set up a roof structure for rain to fall on, then channel the water into containers for storage.
Materials Needed :
-tent poles
-plenty of rope
-tent stakes (steel or wood spikes)
-tent covering (tarps made from local materials)
-rolls of clear plastic sheeting
-water storage tanks (plastic containers suitable for storing drinking water- from 50 to 1,500 gallons)
-chlorine and/or iodine tablets (if necessary)
Many RainCatcher tents can be set up at key locations around a village or town. For however long the rainy season lasts, these simple rain water collection plants catch and store thousands of gallons of the purest drinking water available on the planet. With a consistent, reusable supply of storage containers, enough water can be caught and stored to last a community from one rainy season to the next. In full, opaque containers, water can be stored for an entire dry season. Chlorine and iodine tablets are readily available to add to any barrels that my have become contaminated by airborne/dust-borne bacteria.
This description is for a square shaped RainCatcher tent (click DIAGRAMS to see sketches)Through experimentation, any shape or size can be adapted to the requirements of site and use. For example, if a single 1000gal water tank is available, tarps can be attached to the top of the tank and rise outward and upward to perimeter poles, creating a big funnel to channel rainfall into the single storage tank. Another example : set up safari-type canopies and place rain barrels around the edges.With any RainCatcher, the bigger the tent surface area, the faster the storage containers will be filled.
The only limit to how much rain water can be collected and stored is how many tent structures can be erected and how many storage containers can be rounded up.
