Water Conservation

Rain Water Harvesting - Using Rain Barrels
Gray Water Recycling - Using Toilet Tank Top Sink (Yes we said toilet tank top :) )

Did you watch us on TV?
We taught Yolanda Green of Going Green TV show how to make her own barrel.

We sell, design and install Rain Barrels and other rain water harvesting systems like Gray Water Recycling Sink -
at our Eco-Boutique. Please go to our Shop Green page link.

Rain Barrels - Water is our most precious natural resource and something that most of us take for granted. Water is essential to our survival. Fresh water is in limited supply and takes lot of resources to make it to our faucets. Water that comes out of you tap takes chemicals for treatment and energy to get there. By harvesting rain water and using it to water your garden and plants or washing car etc you reduce your fresh water usuage that is coming through your city utilities. Not only you pay for this treted and pumped water your city bears the burden of ever expanding infra structure of water treatment plant as demand keeps increasing with increase in population. Save yourself and your community money and resources. Please harvest rain water. More on Rain Barrels below.

Gray Water Recycling Sink - Everyday hundreds and thousands of gallons of fresh water is flushed down the toilet. Water that has been treated using resources and then pumped to our homes using energy. This fresh water is not cheap and yet we don't think twice when reach for that flush. Then we turn around and go to our sinks to wash our hands and let that soap water go down the drain. So here is a brilliant idea - How about using ourwater used for hand washing to flush the toilets!
Our Gray Water Recycling Sink  retrofits any toilet tank. Just remove the lid from your tank. Disconnect you fresh water supply that is coming to the tank and reconnect it to the sink faucet. Insert drain line from the sink into the bowl outlet in the tank and put the sink on top of the tank. Voila!. Every time you flush, without even touching the faucet water starts flowing. As you wash your hand your used water goes to the bowl and the tank. No more flusing down fresh water or your money down the toilet.

By Harvesting Rain Water and Recycling Gray Water we can reduce environmental impact and save money and resources.

Reasons to Use Rain Barrel

1) Rain barrel-gathered water is not subject to community watering restrictions. Remember last Summer’s Draught! 
2) Naturally soft water with no additives to irritate your plants.  

3) Save money on your water bill.

4) Reduce water pollution in our rivers and lakes by reducing storm water runoff.

5) Save money on your sewage treatment bill by decreasing the amount of water going into the sewer system.
6) Decrease energy consumption used to treat waste water and delay building/expanding waste-water treatment plants

About Indus Valley Rain Barrels

• Made from a locally sourced food grade 55 gallon barrel.
• All barrels are white in color.
• Threaded faucet for garden / soaker hoses.
• Debris screen included in every model
• Mesh mosquito screen included with open face gutter less barrels
• Flexible downspout adapter included for Guttered Homes
• 6 Foot overflow hose included.     
• Closed top design for child, pet, and wildlife safety.
• Fully assembled.

Rain Water Harvesting

The harvesting of rainwater simply involves the collection of precious water from roofs of the buildings and stored in rainwater barrels, tanks or cisterns. This is an age old tradition that is now making a come back due to the escalating environmental and economic costs of providing water by centralized water systems or by well drilling

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The collection of rainwater from the roofs of buildings can easily take place within our cities and towns, not just in rural areas. All that is necessary to capture this water is to direct the flow of rainwater from roof gutters to a rainwater storage tank. By doing this, water can be collected and used for various uses. If you are from the city, it is possible to replace a substantial portion of your fresh water requirements by the capture and storage of rainwater from your roof.

 

Diverting water from your downspout into rainwater catchment systems has several advantages:  

• Reduces the volume of water flowing to the sewer treatment facility

• Reduces the energy usd to clean and transport the water

• Lowers the percentage of roof top rainfall as a component of urban runoff
• Backup source of water during times of drought or between rain showers
• Helps to keep our creeks and beaches clean
• Naturally softened water - great for delicate houseplants, auto cleaning and window washing
• Saves money by lowering your water bill
• Reduces the need for additional tax dollars earmarked for sewer expansion
• Chlorine-free water helps maintain a healthy biotic community in the soil
• Educational tool for teaching residents about water conservation

   

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HOW MUCH RAINFALL CAN YOU COLLECT?

 

How much rain can you expect to collect in your location?  The simple answer is that one inch of precipitation (1/12 foot) on one square foot of collection area equals 0.6233 gallons.  Many simply round this off to 600 gallons collected per inch of rain on 1,000 square feet.

 

Collection Efficiency?  Many assume that you can collect it all, but this is never the case.  There is always a small loss to rainfall needed to wet the roof area and type of roof material is another consideration.  Spills and rate of rainfall can also make a difference.  Finally you can only collect as much rainfall as your storage system will hold.  Collection efficiencies of 75% to 90% are often used by installers depending on design.  For small systems designed for supplemental plant watering, collection factors of below 50% are common because it is not economic to install the large storage that would be required to increase this factor.

 

 

Calculating annual rain fall for harvestation 

Calculate Roof Catchment Area.

 

Multiply the collection area in square feet by 0.6 gallons per square foot per inch of rain times the collection factor times the average annual rainfall and half of the average annual rainfall.

 

For example, if you have 2,500 square feet of collection area and live in Conroe, where the average annual rainfall is 48-50 inches a year and the collection efficiency factor is 80%, the average amount of rain you can collect is:

 

2,500 X 0.6 X 0.8 X 48 = 57,600 gallons per year

 

Dividing this by 365 days a year, the supply would be 157.81 gallons per day.

 

Using the rule-or-thumb that half of the average rainfall will pride a close estimate of the low expected rainfall for the area, in an extremely severe drought year, approximately 29,548 gallons could be collected.  This would result in a supply of only 81 gallons a day.

Available Styles

Basic Gutter Less Barrel - $75         

Down Spout Connect Barrel - $85    

Twin Tandem Barrels - $135      
To pre-order your Barrel for pick up later please go to our registration Page and fill out your details with information on which barrel you would like.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Top 13 reasons to buy Indus Valley Barrels

         1. Your purchase helps support the special need animals.
2. We are local.
3. Our Rain Barrel is made from the 55 Gallon food   grade Barrels and are 100% recycled.
4. Our barrels come from local Coca Cola Company. Your green purchase helps save landfill waste by renewing local discarded material and is environmentally sound.
5. We are the cheapest
6. Our specially designed spigot assembly allows you to use every last drop from your barrel.
7. Same feature helps reduce the accumulation of silt at the bottom of the barrel. Problem encountered by many barrels sold in the market.
8. Brass metal spigot are included at no additional costs and is lost lasting.
9. Our brass fitting assures that any garden hose can be attached to our systems.
10. Debris screen and tight fitting keep out roof debris and prevents mosquito growth. 
11. Our units come fully-assembled and ready to use.
12. Overflow valve allows overflow rainwater to be diverted to other areas away from the foundation. This is recommended by all professional roofers and gutter companies.
13. Overflow valve is also compatible with any garden hose or soaker hose available in the market.

Coming Soon - Our Delux Models with installed Planters! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Safety

Rain Barrel are big and heavy and potentially hazardous if tipped. Please secure your Rain Barrels properly to avoid accidents.

Performance

Rain Barrels work with Gravity to get better pressure we suggest elevating your barrels as high as you can.
Please use minimum of two cinder Block hight.
This will not only give you better pressure but also give you space to put your watering can under the spigot.

Here are some methods of elevating your barrel.



Care

As with any water storage two problems that come up are mosquito and Algae.

Mosquito - We make sure that our downspout connections are tight and our mosquito screens are well installed. But too avoid any occurence of mosquitos you can throw Mosquito Dunks in your water. Its fine for plants.
You can also use a table spoon of Vegetable oil which wil suffoctae the larvae.

Algae - Algae needs lot of sun, warm weather and nice PH to grow.
Please install your rain barrel away from direct sunlight. You can also paint the barrels though considering the environment we do not recommend that option. We prefer to install lattice and vine screens which are natural, pleasing to eyes and performs the job of shading the barrel beautifully.
You can also put quater cup of Vinegar in the barrel which changes the PH.

Aesthetics

If you or your neighbor don't like the look of your barrel you have several options. 
1) Grow Plants around it
2) Hide behind a screen
3) Bamboo skin
4) Wooden skin
5) Burlap Skin
6) Paint (Painted Barrels look Beautiful but plastic paints are not environmentally friendly)

Some examples we found on the internet

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Water-Water Every Where But Not a Drop to Drink

Water may be mundane, but it's not cheap. According to experts clean drinking water crisis is fast approaching. Water is necessary for sustaining every activity on our planet, it's worth respecting.

 

In the US, the amount of water used per person typically ranges from between 70 and 100 gallons a day for everything from washing clothes to watering the lawn.

 

There are two aspects of water usage for homeowners to consider. One is conserving water and using what they have efficiently and the second is to consciously work to reduce the amount of water that flows into the municipal water system. Are you doing your part?

 

Here are few suggestions to help you set on this path:

 

Create xeriscaped gardens using native plants. For vegetable gardens, use drip irrigation, mulch heavily, and water during the coolest part of the day. By creating an oasis zone and combining water hungry plants in one area, you can

 

Switch to energy- and water-efficient appliances. A front-loading washer uses around 10 gallons, which is half the water a top loader uses. Also, unless your clothes are really dirty, you may be able forgo the extra rinse and use about half as much laundry detergent, especially if you have soft water. (Train the kids to hang up their clothes and wear their pants twice instead of washing every time.) You might be surprised to find that you may be able reduce your laundry needs by as much as 50% by just replacing the washer. Check local utilities for rebates or tax benefits of switching

 

Use low flow toilets and shower heads. In fact, go a step further and limit showers to 5 minutes.

 

Harvest Rain Water. Rain water is wonderful for your organic garden. There are no chemicals in the rain water. Grand Ma says that rain water is also good for washing clothes and hair!

TAGS - Houston Rain Barrels, Houston RainBarrel, Spring Rain Barrel, Conroe Rain Barrel,