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            There are many ways that everyday groundwater is becoming scarce. Of course, it is important to conserve water for consumption, but there are also other forms of water that people can use for other purposes. One woman in Los Angeles by the name of Carrie Wassenaar has managed to create a system that takes rainwater from her roof and transports it to a container in her backyard to be reused. “Wassenaar's roof… has been outfitted with gutters and downspouts to capture all rain in a 900-square-foot area. That water is funneled to a network of underground pipes and then into a green plastic tank that sits beneath a lemon tree in Wassenaar's backyard.” (Morin, 2015) This system allows her to reuse the rainwater that would have otherwise drained straight to the city sewage. By harnessing this water for her own use, Wassenaar is able to use less city water in her lawn maintenance. It also prevents a small amount of run-off from draining into the nearby water sources.

 

            The impressive factor about this system is that it runs itself electronically. Wassenaar has a computerized control panel on the side of her house that monitors the amount of water in the cistern. (Morin, 2015) This water will be automatically drained to the rain garden in Wassenaar’s front yard. The rain garden is an assorted method of allowing water to drain into the ground, rather than running-off into the road and storm drains. “The rain garden is a depression that contains stones and rocks and allows large amounts of storm water to pool instead of flowing into the street. Eventually, the pooled water percolates through the ground and into the San Fernando Valley groundwater basin, recharging the aquifer.” (Morin, 2015) This water will replenish the water in the area instead of draining of with other rain water. This system helps the environment in many ways including reducing water usage, reducing run-off, and replenishing the areas water supply.

 

            Rainwater can be useful for many other purposes besides being recycled into groundwater by watering lawns and gardens. “Harvested rainwater is an alternative water source for buildings, especially for non-potable uses such as irrigation and toilet flushing.” (Devkota, 2015) Irrigation is an obvious idea for rainwater re-use, because most farms already receive water from rain. Toilet Flushing would also be an effective use for rainwater because toilet water does not necessarily need to meet certain standards of cleanliness. However, it is highly difficult to measure the cleanliness of rainwater. “While rainwater harvesting is perceived as a sustainable design approach, there is limited information on the environmental and economic performance of this technology.” (Devkota, 2015) A survey of rainwater cleanliness was conducted in Sydney, Australia, in 2013. The study found that “tank water quality was impacted by the construction materials used to fabricate both the tanks and roofs.” (van der Sterran, 2013) This means that the water quality is affected by the means of holding it, in this case in tanks. The construction of the tanks and roofs for them caused poor water quality.

 

            A good way to convey this information to viewers would be to provide a visual example of the differences between rainwater and other common water sources such as tap water. This could be done by having a sample of each held in a clear container, so viewers could identify visual differences between the two. It would also be helpful to ask the audience if they think rainwater should be used for non-potable purposes, such as flushing toilets and irrigating crops. Discussing ideas with each other could add to a viewer’s experience of the presentation.