harvesting rainwater

[WisJim]

These folks have been using rainwater for all of their water use for decades, with no problems.

[GasSavers_RoadWarrior]

The water distribution system for half of the US is the Mississippi and it's watershed... it's that that's getting backed up by all the rain... so if you think about how much water the Mississippi moves, you'll see you're going to have quite a bit of difficulty taking even 1% of the load off it.

[VetteOwner]

Originally Posted by WisJim

These folks have been using rainwater for all of their water use for decades, with no problems.

depends on where they live, around here your guaranteed to have muddy rain (only place that your car gets DIRTIER after a rain...)

[Huckabee]

I didn't see it mentioned here (maybe I missed it), but first flush diversion will help with much of the bird poop, etc. http://www.rain-barrel.net/first-flush.html

Slightly off topic, I'm thinking about "driving" a well in my back yard. I checked our water tables, 30' tested one block and about 20' higher elevation then my house. I expect to hit water somewhere between 15' and 35'. I'll let you know when I do it. http://www.fdungan.com/well.htm