If you live in a cabin or have a rental cabin, then you know how important it is to have a safe, reliable water source. However, living off the grid isn’t always easy, and water can be hard to come by — and even when you manage to track down a little water, it can often disappoint with low flow rates or water pressure.

At PerfectWater, we see it all the time: some of our customers have tried to drill multiple wells to serve as a water source for an off-grid cabin, only to come up dry, and still others have spent years struggling to get by with a well that only provided them with 5 to 20 gallons of water a day. We’ve even had customers who have had to resort to hauling water up to their cabins using 250-gallon storage vessels. Yikes!

If only they’d look up once in a while, they might notice that there’s another source of abundant freshwater all around them. That’s right: rainwater harvesting is an all-natural, sustainable alternative to well water, and it can easily be harvested to help you turn your dry off-grid cabin into a fully self-sufficient home.

If you’re looking for a water supply for your cabin, harvesting rainwater is a simple and easy way to ensure that you and your family or renters don’t need to worry about going thirsty again. Keep reading to learn all about rainwater harvesting and why it’s a healthy and eco-friendly choice that’s becoming increasingly popular in the U.S.

How Does Rainwater Harvesting Work?

Rainwater harvesting is a relatively simple process. As soon as rain falls on your cabin roof, which is generally free of harsh contaminants, it is collected and carried underground until it goes through a pre-storage filter, which removes large pieces of debris such as leaves and dirt. The rainwater then enters its above- or below-ground storage tank, the bottom of which is lined with a thin layer of microbiological bacteria called the biofilm. This biofilm keeps the rainwater clean and clear by preventing the formation of odors or slime as it sits over time.

When a resident of your cabin wants a glass of water, all they need to do is turn the tap. Before the rainwater reaches the faucet, it undergoes one final filtration to remove organic contaminants and passes through UV light to remove any bacteria. All that remains is soft, chemical- and contaminant-free rainwater that tastes great and is far better for your skin, hair, and overall health than well water. Use it for drinking and cooking or even washing and bathing — it can be used for any situation that requires water.

What Are the Benefits of Rainwater Harvesting?

Most off-grid cabins rely on well water for their water supply. But rainwater harvesting has many benefits that make it a great alternative to wells, such as:

Water Quality

Is there anything less refreshing than a glass of cloudy, sulfurous water from a nearby well? Even if you have crystal-clear well water now, the chemistry of a well can change dramatically over time as its water comes into contact with different materials, meaning that your water supply could be contaminated with calcium, iron, bacteria, and sediment at any given point in its lifetime.

In contrast, rainwater is free of total dissolved solids (TDS), as well as chemicals and contaminants, making it a high-quality water source that quite literally falls from the sky on a regular basis.

Reliability

It’s often hard to find or drill a water-producing well — and, even if you manage to hit water, there’s no guarantee that it will continue to produce water for years afterwards. If reliability is your concern in selecting a water supply, as it is for many cabin owners, then rainwater is a great option.

When designing a given rainwater harvesting system, we take into account 50- to 100-year rainfall data as well as the size of your cabin and the number of its occupants. When we’re done, you’re left with a long-term water source that’s far more reliable than using a well.

Pressure and Flow Rates

Low water pressure and flow rates can lead to your water slowing to a trickle as it leaves the faucet. That happens because well-based water supplies often need to pump water up hundreds of feet to the surface in order to reach your cabin, which can require the use of a stronger pump or wider pipes.

However, because rainwater storage systems are held at shallower depths or above ground, they don’t need to be rigorously pumped upwards — meaning that you can enjoy high water pressures and flow rates with minimal effort.

Planning for the Future

If you already own an off-grid cabin or rental cabin, chances are that you’re interested in living a sustainable, self-sufficient lifestyle. Rainwater harvesting is the next step in achieving true self-sufficiency in an environmentally friendly way. Not only is rainwater harvesting a good way to equip yourself with a water supply that produces clean, uncontaminated water with very little maintenance or upkeep, but it is also ideal for cabin owners who want to establish their own private water supply over which they have complete control.

If you’re looking for a water supply for your cabin that is far more reliable, clean, and high-quality — not to mention sustainable and eco-friendly — than well water, then look no further than rainwater harvesting. It’s guaranteed to provide you with a renewable source of fresh water, no matter what the future brings.

Key Takeaway

Rainwater harvesting is a perfect way to provide a water supply for cabins. Once it’s installed, a rainwater harvesting system is a self-sufficient system that gathers, purifies, and stores fresh, all-natural rainwater on its own. Not only is rainwater more reliable than well water, but it’s also free of chemicals and contaminants, making it a healthy choice for those who want to provide their off-grid cabin with water in a sustainable and eco-friendly way.

If you’re interested in learning more, take a look at our rainwater harvesting guide, and don’t hesitate to contact us to schedule a water consultation for your cabin. We’re looking forward to helping you take control of your water.

Rainwater harvesting provides water for a wide array of applications, including home indoor potable use such as drinking, cooking, washing, and bathing. It can also be used for irrigation, livestock, stormwater management, and on-site water storage. The limiting factor of harvested rainwater is not the application, but rather how the system is designed which will determine functionality. For example, a system designed for indoor potable use will differ from one designed for irrigation or livestock. 

 

Rainwater Harvesting – What is it?

Rainwater harvesting is the process of collecting rooftop rainwater and storing it for future use (more on uses below). Oftentimes, when people think of rainwater harvesting, they think of an old cistern at grandma’s farm. While the idea is similar, the design and execution are significantly different.  

For instance, a properly designed rainwater harvesting system will go through multiple types and stages of filtration. A pre-storage filter will rid the rainwater of large particulates and contaminants before entering the system, the storage itself will act as a filtration stage as the biofilm works, and before entering the home it will go through a multi-stage filtration and purification panel. 

While it is growing in popularity in the United States, rainwater harvesting is common practice in other areas of the world such as Europe and Australia. 

Homeowners across the states are using harvested rainwater as the primary, and in many cases only, water source for their home. The advancements in rainwater collection design and filtration technology have made this a reality.  

A good way to think about rainwater harvesting is to say it’s the solar power of water. But the investment needed and technology to supply a whole-home easily has advanced much further than solar at this point. Meaning, it is a lot easier to have your whole–home water supply be sourced via harvested rainwater than it is for your whole-home to electric supply to be sourced via solar power. 

Uses for Rainwater Harvesting

Home–Use: One of the best applications for rainwater harvesting, and what this article will focus on primarily, is using it as a whole-house water supply. This means using harvested rainwater in place of a normal city water or well water supply. Using rainwater for every water need in your home, such as drinking, cooking, washing, bathing, and more, is now possible! (More on rainwater harvesting for home-use below) 

Irrigation: Rainwater harvesting can also be used for light irrigation purposes. The reason it is limited in irrigation is that it takes a substantial amount of water to properly irrigate a landscape. It can certainly supplement irrigation for a large landscape design, but using harvested rainwater as the sole-source for irrigation might not be possible due to water needs. 

Livestock: Another great use for rainwater harvesting is feeding farm animals and livestock. Either for smaller farms, homesteading, or even large-farm applications. The good thing about rainwater harvesting in this application is that farms generally have large buildings to house the animals, this is a great catchment source for rainwater. The bigger the roof, the more rainwater which is able to be collected. 

Stormwater Management: This issue of site water runoff is becoming more apparent as home site regulations become stringent in regard to water leaving the premises. In many regions, the home site must guarantee the first inch of rainwater to remain within the boundaries of the land. This prevents stormwater runoff from interfering with other properties. Rainwater harvesting offers a solution to not only maintain stormwater control, but also provide water as an asset if desired. 

On-Site Water Storage: Whether it be for fire protection, or simply a backup water supply, a rainwater collection system can provide a great on-site water storage solution. This can be especially attractive for rural areas that could experience catastrophe without access to a substantial amount of water in case of a fire. 

 

The Benefits of Rainwater Harvesting

When it comes to rainwater harvesting, there are many benefits to expect when using it for your home. 

• Water Quality – Harvested rainwater provides some of the highest quality of water available for residential use. This starts with the fact that rainwater just fell from nature’s big distiller in the sky, the clouds. The water is then ran through multiple stages of filtration which brings the water to incredibly low TDS (total dissolved solids). 

• Water Availability – While this might not apply to most homeowners, there are many areas where getting a reliable water supply can be rather difficult. Rainwater harvesting gives the ability to take a home and give it a private water supply that is reliable, good quality, excellent pressure, and can supply the entire home. 

• Self-Sustainability – This speaks to the benefit mentioned above, but if you are trying to build a home that is self-reliant with things such as solar power, livestock, or gardening. Rainwater harvesting can be a great addition to your homesteading lifestyle. 

• Eco-Friendly – Rainwater harvesting is the “greenest” way to supply water for your home. It’s a self-containing system that lasts decades, and parts can easily be exchanged when needed. It requires very little power, and for the most part is self-sustaining. 

• Naturally Soft – Another major benefit of rainwater is the fact that it is naturally soft. You may have heard of hard water, and most water that is publicly accessible has at least some hardness (calcium and magnesium) in it, but harvested rainwater is completely soft without having to use a water softener. 

• Private Water Supply – Rainwater harvesting provides the homeowner with their very own water source of which they have complete control. 

• Stormwater Management – Runoff management of rainwater can be a serious problem for some home sites. Rainwater harvesting provides a great solution to this problem. 

 

Rainwater Harvesting for Home-Use

If using rainwater harvesting for your home is of interest to you, then you’re in luck! Rainwater harvesting works very well for home-use. And yes, the rainwater can be used for all your water needs including drinking, cooking, washing, bathing, watering, and more.  

When using rainwater for your home, it can be easily integrated through catching rooftop rainwater, sending it through a pre-storage filter, and then sent to storage. After leaving storage, the water goes through a filtration and purification panel and is then sent directly into the home’s plumbing system 

The rainwater is under complete control of the homeowner. This means that the water pressure is excellent, and the homeowner can live and use their water like a normal American homeowner. 

The system itself requires very little maintenance and upkeep. You can expect a simple service of the system once or twice per year. 

 

Can My Home Harvest Enough Rainwater?

In many cases the answer is YES. Obviously, the larger your roof surface area is, the more rainwater you can collect. But homeowners that we work with are often pleasantly surprised of just how much water they can collect. And when compared to their estimated use, rainwater is often more than sufficient, but even provides water with extreme excess. 

 

Drinking Water

If you are like many other Americans, the thought of drinking and cooking with water straight from the tap is not incredibly attractive. If that is the case, you may have subjected yourself into the habit of buying bottled water as a solution to this problem.  

While buying bottled water at its cheap price may seem like the economical choice at first glance, you may be surprised at what you learn in this post. A complete drinking water purification system for your home can make sense not only for you and your family’s health, but also for your pocketbook.  

 

Purified or Not?

The first question to ask, “is purified drinking water important?” is one that certainly needs to be addressed before diving into the cost comparison of bottled water vs. Reverse Osmosis.  

The water that comes from a city water or well water source can still be full of contaminants that are unhealthy for human consumption. Thoroughly purifying the water that will be consumed a good way to promote a healthy lifestyle. 

How Much Water Do We Consume?

You probably consume more water than you might think. Water is consumed not only when you drink a glass of water. Drinking water is used when cooking, drinking beverages with ice, coffee, tea, and other water-based beverages. 

I am sure that you, at some point in your life, have heard that everyone needs to drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water every day to stay hydrated. While this would be very good for business, there hasn’t actually ever been a study that indicated this. But here is what we do know. 

The Institute of Medicine of the National Academies released an in-depth study by the Food and Nutrition Board that covered the intake of water, titled, “Dietary Reference Intakes for Water, Potassium, Sodium, Chloride, and Sulfate” 

This was an incredibly intense study, almost 650-pages long. The findings were rather interesting on water intake. 

• The vast majority of healthy people adequately meet their daily hydration needs by letting thirst be their guide. General recommendations for women at approximately 2.7 liters (91 ounces) of total water — from all beverages and foods — each day, and men an average of approximately 3.7 liters (125 ounces daily) of total water. 
• About 80 percent of people’s total water intake comes from drinking water and beverages — including caffeinated beverages — and the other 20 percent is derived from food. 

Did you catch that? The general recommendation for all water intake (including water, beverages, and food) is 91 ounces per day for women, and about 125 ounces per day for men. 

Of those 91 and 125 ounces, approximately 80% is consumed from drinking water and beverages, such as coffee – while the remaining 20% is from food. 

Read the full study here 

 

Parameters for Consumption

Our cost analysis will be based on the following example:  

Household A will be comprised of a family of 5, two adults (male and female) and three children. 

For the adults, the fluid intake stated above will be used as the parameter, 1 gallon per day for men, and ¾ gallon per day for women., and for the children we will use 1/3rd gallon per day. 

To account for extra consumption that might take place such as for ice, cooking, visitors, pets water bowl, etc, ½ gallon per day will be added to each household. 

 

Parameters for Cost

Our cost analysis will be based on an average gallon of bottled water cost and a standard reverse osmosis system. 

At your local grocery store, you can probably purchase a gallon of water for anywhere from $0.85 to $1.09. This analysis will use $0.95/gallon as our cost number for bottled water. 

Reverse osmosis systems can vary, but in general there will be an initial investment, and then an annual service cost. The standard Reverse Osmosis system will be set at $1,100 for the initial investment, and then $260 for annual service.

 

Results

Household A: (Consumption: 3 ¼ gallons of purified water per day)

• Bottled Water Cost (1 year) at $0.95/gallon: $1127 
• Bottled Water Cost (5 years) at $0.95/gallon: $5,635 
• Standard Reverse Osmosis (1 Year – includes purchase & maintenance): $1,100 
• Standard Reverse Osmosis (5 Years – includes purchase & maintenance): $2,140 

 

A Few Things to Keep In Mind About the Results

• This doesn’t consider the cost/time of driving to the store to pick up water or have it delivered. 
• Reverse Osmosis systems provide an unlimited amount of water. So even though these calculations were based on certain water consumption rates, another benefit to the reverse osmosis is unlimited water on tap. 
• The reverse osmosis system can also be easily connected to your ice machine or freezer, ensuring purified ice, free of chemicals that can spoil the flavors of your beverage. 
• An RO system that is installed in your home should be looked at as an asset. It adds to the value of your home. So even the initial investment of the system should be easier to swallow because of this

 

 

Reverse Osmosis vs. Bottled Water

Despite that this article has consisted entirely of comparing bottled water to reverse osmosis, the two are not the same. Bottled water is oftentimes not purified to the extent that reverse osmosis is, and even if it is, it sits in the plastic water bottled for weeks, if not months, before being used. Reverse osmosis, on the other hand, purifies the water on demand, fresh and ready. 

Bottled water also brings a host of troubles when it comes to microplastics. Numerous studies have shown that all the “big brands” in the bottled water industry continue to test positive for microplastics.  

Quality: We wrote an article that looks in-depth at the quality of bottled water. There have been multiple studies done that point to the fact that bottled water is not the high-purity water that so many of us believe. Much of bottled water is simply municipal water put into a bottle with nearly no filtration at all! A recent study found micro-plastics in many popular bottled water brands. On average, they found twice as many micro-plastics in bottled water as are found in municipal water. 

Single-Use Plastics: Another major negative regarding bottled water is the amount of plastic used in the process. Most bottled water is designed to be single-use and disposable. Many brands make recyclable bottled water, but unfortunately, only about 34% of the waste from the U.S. is recycled. 

 

Final Thoughts

When you see that reverse osmosis wins in water quality compared to bottled water, it wins in sustainability through not using single-use plastics compared to bottled water, and it costs significantly less than bottled water – The choice is clear. 

 A question from homeowners that inevitably comes up is, “will rainwater harvesting work in the winter when it freezes and snows”? In today’s article, we look at all the aspects of rainwater collection during the winter months.  

Since we are currently located in the southeast, this is the climate to which I will be discussing in this post. 

The Basics of Rainwater Harvesting 

What is rainwater harvesting? In simple terms, it’s the collection of rooftop rainwater, sending it through a process of conveyance, storage, filtration, and repressurizing the water, and supplying the captured rainwater as a fully-functioning water supply. 

So, what changes in the winter? Freezing temperatures add an interesting dynamic to water, it changes water from its normal liquid state to a solid-state. 

What About the Snow? 

When snow falls on the roof, the water is not lost! It most often slowly melts as the sun covers the large surface.  

 

Will the Rainwater in the Storage Tank Freeze? 

While the answer to this question for underground storage tanks may be obvious, it does not freeze. You may be wondering about above groundwater storage – the water inside the storage tank only freezes the first few inches of the outer rim, but the center of the tank, where the pump is placed, does not come close to freezing. 

 

What Else Should I Know About Winter Season Rainwater Harvesting? 

There are thousands of Americans living in their rainwater harvesting-supplied homes year-round. Rainwater harvesting is perfectly suited to function at one hundred percent throughout the year. 

Rainwater Harvesting for Your Home

Among homeowners in the United States, rainwater harvesting is growing in popularity. While this source and technology of high-quality water has been around for a few decades and is very common in Australia and Europe, the United States is quickly becoming a key player in the rainwater harvesting ecosystem. 

Depending on your familiarity with rainwater harvesting, you may know that it is a full-supply water source for homes, meaning it used for drinking, cooking, washing, bathing – everything! 

Like many things with your home, you may be trying to determine if rainwater harvesting is a good investment. In this article, we dive deeper into the value of rainwater harvesting to help determine if it may be a good fit for you. 

 

Water Supply – Where Does Your Home’s Water Come From? 

If you’re like most people, thinking about the water in your home is probably not a daily occurrence. In fact, many homeowners simply don’t think about their water.  

Most home’s water is supplied through a municipal water utility, while the remaining minority is primarily comprised of private wells. 

Let’s talk a little about these water sources and what you should know. 

Municipal (City) Water

This is the most common water source for homes in the United States. Municipalities do an amazing job supplying millions of homes with water. They collect, filter, disinfect, and distribute water that meets the standards set by the EPA on a mass scale.  

Unfortunately, homeowners do not have personal control of this water source, this is a public utility. 

Additionally, when dealing with mass distribution, it would be nearly impossible for water utilities to deliver homeowners with high-quality water at their faucets. Therefore, we recommend home-located water purification or an entirely different water source – rainwater harvesting. 

 

Well Water

Many homeowners like the idea of well water as it’s their own personal water supply. Unfortunately, well water also often comes with water quality problems and can unpredictable and even unreliable. 

 

Rainwater Harvesting is a Multi-Variable Investment 

While some investments, such as financial investing, has one singular focus, investing in rainwater harvesting offers a variety of valuable “returns”.  

Let’s talk through the different items in which you are investing in by using harvested rainwater. 

 

Financial Investment 

When simply using a financial comparison between getting set up with your local water municipality and getting a rainwater harvesting system, generally the rainwater harvesting system will be a higher upfront cost. But this is also not an apples-to-apples comparison, as rainwater harvesting is your own personal water supply that you OWN. 

There are many situations where rainwater harvesting is clearly a better financial decision. Here are a couple of situations that commonly see: 

If the water utility will need to run hundreds of feet of water line to reach your home, there is a good chance that rainwater harvesting might be more economical. 

And whenever the possibility of drilling a well is presented, rainwater harvesting should certainly be considered. In these cases, rainwater harvesting may not only be more economical, but also is more reliable than a well, and provides a much higher quality of water. 

 

Health Investment

When compared to city water or well water, rainwater harvesting is a clear winner in regards to water quality.  

Harvested rainwater is free of chemicals and disinfectants that are used in city water treatment. And is also free of heavy metals, pharmaceuticals, and other contaminants. Not to mention, harvested rainwater is naturally soft! 

Well water must often be treated with chlorine-injection or other intense water filtration methods, harvested rainwater requires no chemicals is very easily purified to the highest quality. 

 

Home Investment

When looking at rainwater harvesting, the high-quality water is beneficial to more than your health, your home also benefits greatly from high-quality water.  

Hard water builds up and scales inside of plumbing, water heaters, washing machines, dishwashers, and more. When using the high-quality water provided by rainwater harvesting, the naturally soft water will not damage the aforementioned items. 

 

Environmental Investment 

Building “green” is an important practice that is becoming more common and affordable, rainwater harvesting can be a great addition to your green home ecosystem.  

 

Off-Grid Investment 

When you invest in a rainwater harvesting system, you are investing in a personal water supply over which you have complete control. Many people go straight to thinking about electricity off-grid, but obviously, water is an incredibly important resource that should be considered. 

 

Start with Education 

When considering any investment, it is best to know what you are investing in rather than simply jumping in. We are all about providing tons of education to the public! If the idea of rainwater harvesting is foreign to you, check out some of our other articles that explore rainwater harvesting in more detail. 

Water in the Home

When considering drinking water purification, it’s important to look at the whole picture, including purification or filtration method, water contaminants, and water source. 

The water that supplies your home is more complicated than you might think. Not only is the water chemistry complicated, but also the path that water has taken to end up out of your faucet.  

From the primary water source of either surface (river or lake) or groundwater (well), the municipal water company sends the water through multiple stages of filtration and disinfection which is then pressurized and sent to your home. 

Since this water is collected, filtered, and distributed at a large scale, it is understandable that the water should be purified further upon entry of the home. 

 

Drinking Water

Water that is consumed should be of more concern than water that is simply used to wash dishes or bathe in (although that is important too). Contaminants in the water that are consumed can be toxic and unhealthy. 

Remember that drinking water includes water that is used in cooking and other water-based drinks such as coffee and tea. This is important to remember while deciding on a drinking water purification system. 

Water Contaminants

There is a wide variety of water contaminants that one should be concerned about, this includes heavy metals, inorganics, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, algaecides, disinfectants, radiological contaminants, and other contaminants and chemicals. 

Having a purification system at the home ensures the removal of these contaminants. 

 

Reverse Osmosis

The highest quality of water purification available for residential use is reverse osmosis (distillation also purifies at a very high level but is not as practical). There have been many tests done with reverse osmosis and it continues to deliver high-quality water. 

Reverse osmosis is also scalable, it works with small homes and all the way up to large homes with high water demands. 

 

Integrating Reverse Osmosis in the Home

Sometimes when people are considering reverse osmosis, they think it must be stored underneath the sink, and that is not the case! 

Often, reverse osmosis systems can be placed in a basement, garage, crawlspace, or mechanical room accompanied with running purified water lines to the desired locations. 

These locations can include the kitchen sink, ice machine, wet bar, outdoor kitchen, master bathroom, and more!  

What is Soft Water?

Soft water is water absent of hardness molecules, such as calcium and magnesium. 

Most water in nature has some amount of hardness, but the amount of hardness can vary greatly. Hardness is caused by “rock” minerals dissolved in the water.  

Hard water forms scale buildup on basically anything it touches. 

One exception to naturally found water that is hard is rainwater – rainwater is naturally soft. 

 

How Does a Water Softener Work?

Water softeners use a water treatment process known as ion exchange to remove the hardness minerals in exchange for sodium ions. 

This is a very effective and efficient way to remove calcium and magnesium from water. 

What are the Benefits of Soft Water in My Home?

As mentioned above, hard water can cause buildup on basically everything it touches, so when it comes to your home, water touches a lot! 

• Plumbing – Soft water keeps the plumbing system clear and free from buildup which can lead to lower flow rates and pressure drops. 
• Shower Heads – Soft water keeps the small pores from clogging which will cause low pressure. 
• Washing Machine – Soft water helps maintain the longevity of the machine, as well as improving the ability of the wash since it does not need to overcome the hardness in the water anymore. 
• Dishwasher – Improves the wash quality as well as maintaining the life cycle of the machine. 
• Water Heater (Tank or Tankless) – Soft water helps maintain the efficiency of water heaters. Without the buildup on the heating elements, water heaters will like new for many years. 
• Tile, Porcelain, Tile, and Glass – Any shower, bathroom, or kitchen surface that encounters water is prone to scale buildup, soft water removes that possibility. 
• Coffee Machines – Soft water keeps the heating element clean and free of scale, as well as keeping any small holes from being clogged. 

As you can see, there are many benefits to the home when using soft water. 

 

Water are the Benefits of Soft Water for My Health?

Soft water benefits you and your family’s health as well!  

• Hair – Water hardness does not only build upon surfaces in your home, but it can also cause buildup on your skin! When taking a shower, the hardness minerals react with soaps and shampoos causing a buildup on your skin that doesn’t wash off, even though it may feel like it! 
• Hair – The hardness minerals also cause buildup in your hair, which can cause dinginess and remove hairs natural silky and healthy shine. 

Soft water can also help moisturize your skin and other health benefits. 

 

Do Water Softeners Add to Salt to My Water?

No. 

This is one of the biggest myths out there about water softeners.  

As mentioned above, water softeners replace the calcium and magnesium molecules in exchange for sodium ions. Sodium is not salt. Salt is Sodium-Chloride. 

The amount of sodium added to the water is minuscule and is oftentimes so little that it wouldn’t even be a problem for people on low-sodium diets. 

But, if you have reverse osmosis for drinking water, even that little bit of sodium will be removed as well. 

 

What About the Slick Feeling?

Another common myth regarding water softeners is that it feels like the soap is not coming off. This is something that takes a week or two to get used to, but once you get used to it you’ll never want to go back to hard water. 

You see, what is happening is the natural oils from your skin are finally being released and not clogged up as they are when using hard water. The soap comes off much better with soft water than it does with hard water. 

Water for the Home

Have you ever considered the water that comes out of your kitchen faucet? Where does it come from? Is it good water? Is it bad water? Does it come from the local city utility? From a well? 

When you start to think about the water in your home, it can be an eye-opening process. 

Did you know that you can have your own personal water utility using rainwater harvesting? 

 

Really? Rainwater Harvesting as the Total Water Supply?

Yes! 

Rainwater harvesting is a common water source in Europe and Australia, the United States simply hasn’t adopted this self-sufficient water source at a large-scale. We have many customers who have been living with rainwater harvesting as their sole-water supply for many years – and they love it. 

At first blush, a rainwater harvesting system can seem unreliable or complicated. But, the more you learn about a properly designed system, the more you will start to realize how robust and practical a personal water source can be! 

What to Consider Regarding the Water in Your Home?

Again, thinking about the water in your home may not be a daily consideration, but it quickly grows in importance if your water is coming out brown, or has a strong odor, or your shower is spraying at a dribble, or the water has stopped flowing and you can’t flush your toilet.  

Chances are, you have experienced some form of one of these common water issues – so let’s talk about it. 

 

Water Quality

If you are using city water, there are three primary water quality issues of which you should be concerned: Water hardness, chlorine, and drinking water contaminants. 

Water Hardness: This varies greatly across water municipalities in the U.S., but in most areas, some amount of water hardness is present, and the negative effects of hard water are brought along with it. 

Chlorine: This is meant as a placeholder for whatever type of disinfectant is used in the disinfection process at the water utility – oftentimes a chemical called chloramine is used. These disinfectant chemicals are toxic and should be removed before coming in contact with your body or for drinking. 

Drinking-Water Contaminants: This includes all organic and inorganic contaminants, heavy metals, pharmaceuticals, and other toxins. 

If you are using well water, the contaminants increase to also include iron, sulfur, ph issues, sediment, and a few others which will need to be addressed. 

When it comes to rainwater harvesting, the water is naturally soft! No softener needed. It is also free of disinfectant chemicals. And lastly, it is extremely low in TDS (total dissolved solids), free of the drinking water contaminants mentioned above. 

 

Water Availability / Reliability

While this may seem to apply solely to well water, but we have had many customers who have experienced unavailable/unreliable utility water, especially in rural communities. This could be caused by being up on a mountain, old pipes, or several other variables. And wells can run dry or change in water quality. 

Rainwater harvesting puts the water storage on your property! Using 100-year rainfall data, we can determine with extreme accuracy what amount of water will be on hand every month of the year. 

 

Water Pressure and Flow Rate

This is a vital part of enjoying the water in your home, there are things you can do with city water and well water to increase the pressure, sometimes increasing the water flow is the hard part.  

The great thing about rainwater harvesting is you have complete control over both factors! It’s your own private water utility district! 

Considering Water When Building

When building your home, I’m sure water isn’t very high on the list of things of which you are concerned. But, may I suggest that you look into it a little more so that you are fully informed on what the possibilities are for taking control of your water in your new home – especially if you integrate these options and systems into the build process. 

This post is going to cover a variety of topics about the water that interacts with your home. From the water that falls on your rooftop, to the water you drink every day. We look at every aspect of water in your home and ask, “How can we best help the homeowner take control of their water?” 

 

Water of the Home

When thinking about water in the home, one might not initially realize how many aspects of water a homeowner may need to consider.  

Water that is in the home, the quality, pressure and flowrate, ability to meet the water demand, and the protection from water leaks throughout the home. 

Water that is outside the home, particularly important when building a home, the need to comply with stormwater runoff regulations, as well as the possibility of using rainwater harvesting as the primary water source for the home. 

Water Purification (Drinking Water)

Getting high-quality drinking water throughout your home is something a lot of people miss out on when building their homes. Special water lines and fixtures need to be installed for this to work properly. 

These highly purified drinking water lines can supply purified water faucets in the kitchen and bathrooms, ice machines, coffee makers, pot fillers, wet bars, and more. This is much more difficult and costly after the build, and sometimes impossible. 

Drinking water purification delivers “better than bottled water” purified water right from the tap. It removes impurities such as heavy metals, pesticides, chemicals, disinfecting byproducts, pharmaceuticals, and much more. 

 

Water Softening & Filtration (Whole-House Water)

While drinking water purification is only for water that you consume, water softening and filtration is for all the water in the home.  

This applies to both city water and well water. 

The idea is to make sure that all the water that enters your home is soft and filtered such that it will maintain the homes plumbing system, water-using appliances, water heaters, and other surfaces that come in contact with the water. 

Not only does this water protect your home, but it also helps maintain healthy and natural skin and hair. The contaminants that clog and scale over your home’s water appliances, also wreak havoc on your skin and hair. Once you experience great water, you won’t want it any other way. 

 

Rainwater Harvesting

This moves from water quality alone to a whole house water supply. That’s right! If you are wanting to move off the city water supply, possibly drilling a well, or have poor water quality, availability, or pressure and flow – consider rainwater harvesting. 

This complete water source provides homes with the highest water quality available and it acts as your own private water utility. 

The collected rainwater is free of chemicals and naturally soft, and it tastes great! 

Most homes, especially in the southeast, can easily live off rainwater harvesting as the sole source of water for the home. 

Implementing rainwater harvesting during the build process is the best time so that underground piping and electrical can easily be placed, as well as storage location and integration. 

  

Stormwater Management (Site Water Runoff)

Stormwater regulations are becoming more and more prevalent, and homeowners and builders should consider what options are available to meet the regulations.  

Using a system rainwater collection system not only helps meet these regulations, but it also provides the benefit of a water source.  

Most stormwater management systems are a cost-only product, such as a retention pond, diversion landscaping, permeable pavers, and more. Rainwater harvesting, on the other hand, provides high-quality water for the homeowners to use freely. 

 

Water Availability (Meeting Water Demand)

This comes down to the reliability of your water source. And this isn’t exclusively for well water. We actually have multiple customers who are “on city water”, but the municipal source is always not reliable to have water available, or if it does, it’s at low flow rates or poor quality, etc. 

And of course, well water can be unreliable depending on the well. 

There are solutions to these problems. Water capacity systems will store large amounts of the provided water on-site to buffer the inconsistency of the water source.  

Another option is using a completely new water source such as rainwater harvesting. 

 

Water Pressure & Flowrate

No one likes taking a shower with low water pressure. This is a problem a lot of homes encounter. Their water source, as it is, simply won’t provide the proper pressure and flowrates to meet the demand of the home and its occupants. 

Capacity and pressure systems are available to solve this problem. Using water storage, pumps, and controllers, a home can have excellent flow rates and water pressure. 

 

Leak Protection

Finally, thousands of homes are ruined each year by in-home plumbing failures and leaks. A leak protection system will ensure that your home will be protected from such instances. 

A good leak detection system should have multiple sensors throughout the home (as many as needed) and the ability to automatically turn off the water main. 

Do I Need Water Filtration for City Water?

There is a common misconception that water filtration is only needed for well water – this is not the case.

The primary contaminants that one should look out for in city water are the following:

Drinking-Water Contaminants – This includes heavy metals, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, inorganics, and other contaminants that are harmful to the body.

Hard Water – I’m sure you’ve heard of hard water before. This is not only a problem with well water, but many water municipalities also deliver hard water to homes that should be softened.

Chlorine – This should be removed from all the water that enters the home. Chlorine / Chloramine / Other disinfecting products are used to remove bacteria and other contaminants from the water for mass distribution. These chemicals should be removed before being used in/on your body.

In another article, we lay out a comprehensive list of contaminants that are common/expected to be found in city water.

 

What Types of Water Filtration is Available?

Based on the contaminants mentioned above, there are a few types of filtration that homeowners should consider when their home is being supplied with municipal (city) water.

Reverse Osmosis – While there are a host of “drinking water filters” out there, we put our recommendation on one type of drinking water purification for homes – that is reverse osmosis. These systems are generally mounted under a sink or remotely mounted (this is what we do) in a garage, crawlspace, or basement. Reverse osmosis performs the highest quality of water purification available for residential applications, removing all the contaminants discussed above at a very high level.

Water Softener – This is probably the most common type of water filtration you see today. Water softeners use a process of ion exchange to remove hardness minerals and replace them with sodium ions. The result? Soft water that doesn’t scale on surfaces and appliances, as well as helping with soft skin and natural, silky hair.

Activated Carbon (De-Chlorination) – These systems are designed to filter all the water coming into the house. They use the treatment process of activated carbon to remove chemicals such as chlorine and other organics.

 

Drinking-Water Purification

For someone who is looking to start their water purification journey, we would recommend starting with drinking water purification through reverse osmosis.

Like previously mentioned, this will remove all the unhealthy contaminants that can show up in your water supply, also it keeps you from having to purchase bottled water at the store.

 

Water Softener

Water softeners are a must for homes in our opinion. They remove hardness minerals from water, which if left alone, will cause scale buildup everywhere the water goes.

There are many misnomers when it comes to water softeners, consider checking out our water softener guide for homeowners.

 

Chlorine Removal

Chlorine removal systems are a customer favorite. If you can’t smell the chlorine in the water when you take a shower, you certainly will be able to tell a difference after you get a system.

You won’t believe that you used to take a shower in un-treated water!

 

An Investment in Your Home and Health

Taking the next step towards water filtration for your home may seem like uncharted territory, but remember the benefits of adding this feature to your home.

• Protection of your plumbing and appliances
• No more scale buildup on shower doors and tile
• Soft and moisturized skin
• Healthy, silky, and natural hair
• Highly purified drinking water at the tap
• Chlorine-free water for showers and bathing
• No toxic contantimants

 

Take the next step in water filtration for your home!