Water Tips, Projects, How-Tos

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Conservation, Rainwater Collection, Irrigation, Fountains,
Ponds, Pumps, Purification, Reclamation, Storage, Wells...

GENERAL/MIXED/MISC.

Build A French Drain & Wall Drainage - GardenAdvice

Developing A Plan For Community Water Security (for less developed regions. PDF.) - PACE

Emergency Drinking Water Supplies (storage, purification, emergency water sources) - NCSU

Field Manual For Water Quality Sampling (PDF file. Also available in Spanish.) - Arizona Water Resources Research Center

How To Create A French Drain System - Repair-Home

How To Install A French Drain - HGTV Pro

Maintaining Conventional Septic Systems - University Of Kentucky

Manuals (drilling wells, building pumps...) - Lifewater

Septic Tank Maintenance - UC Cooperative Extension

Water DOs & DON'Ts - Environment Canada

Water Pumping: The Solar Alternative (PDF file) - Sandia National Laboratories

Water Hyacinth (Control & uses. PDF.) - PACE

COLLECTION & STORAGE

Water Storage (designing & building cisterns and tanks) - Lifewater International

RAINWATER

A Guide: Rain Barrel Water Harvesting (PDF document) - Sprouse, McCoy & Murrieta

Construction Of Rain Barrels & Cisterns - Low Impact Development Center

Don's Homemade Rainwater Collector (multiple barrel rack) - Appropedia

How To Build A Rainwater Catchment Cistern - Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage

How To Make A Rain Barrel - iloveindia.com

How To Make A Rainbarrel - Sustainable Solutions

Paint A Rain Barrel (for plastic barrels) - Aaron's Rain Barrels & More

Rain Barrel Guide

Rain Water Harvesting & Storage System - Solar Haven

Save It For A Sunny Day (getting & setting up a rain barrel) - You Grow Girl

Saving Money On Water: Homemade Rain Water Barrel - Happy Hearts At Home

Texas Guide To Rainwater Harvesting (PDF file) - Texas Water Development Board

CONSERVATION

A Water Efficiency Planning Guide For Building Owners And Managers - Environment Canada

City of Albuquerque Water Conservation Office (conservation tips, checking for leaks, reading your water meter...)

Urban Water Conservation Tips - Water Resources

Water Conservation (how to fix leaky faucets, conservation landscaping, preventing water waste...) - Department Of Water Supply, Maui

Water Heaters & Hot Water (low-flow shower heads, faucet aerators, shower & bath tips...) - EnergyHawk.com

Water: No Time To Waste, A Consumer's Guide To Water Conservation (reduce, repair, retrofit) - Environment Canada

WATERLESS TOILETS

55 Gallon Drum Compost Toilet Guidebook & Plans - Stan Slaughter

Build Your Own: The $25 (Or Less) Hinged Top Humanure Toilet - Jenkins Publishing

Ecological Sanitation Systems, aka Worm Composting Toilets (See PDF for details) - Surfers Without Borders

Help For The Porta-Potty Shy - Michael Bluejay

Loos (build an earth closet) - Adam Hart-Davis

The Sanitary Vault Privy - Indiana State Department Of Health

Toilets That Make Compost: Low-Cost, Sanitary Toilets That Produce Valuable Compost For Crops In An African Context (entire book online) - Peter Morgan

IRRIGATION

Bleach Bottle Watering System - Kid's Valley Garden

Drip Systems: 10 Pretty Good Ideas

Easy Drip Watering Systems - Kid's Valley Garden

Grow With The Flow: Legal Uses Of Graywater - Carol Steinfeld

How To Hire An Irrigation Contractor - The Irrigation Association

Irrigation Checklist: What To Look For When You Hire An Irrigation Contractor - Certified Irrigation Technicians

Jess Stryker's IrrigationTutorials.com

Using Graywater On The Landscape - Drought UGA CAES

FOUNTAINS

7 Rules For How To Plan & Build An Outdoor Water Fountain Or Water Feature - HomeTips.com

Build A Fountain (3 pot) - Suite101.com

Build A Fountain/Container Combination - Garden Gate Magazine

Build A Tabletop Water Fountain - Seeds Of Knowledge

Flower Vase Fountain - Dawn Cusick

How To Build A Wall Fountain Or Spout - Greenfingers.com

How To Make A Spherical Water Fountain - Kimber Mitchell

Make A Garden Water Fountain (out of pots) - Bluegrass Gardens

Make A Soothing Fountain - Jim McCausland

PONDS & WATER GARDENS

Creating A Water Garden - IPCC

Do It Yourself Bio Filter - RunnerDuck

Eric's Half Whiskey Barrel Pond Page

How to Make a Water Garden in a Tub - DoItYourself.com

Pond Tips - Chaos Park

The Water Garden (merchant site, but includes many how-tos)

PROTECTION & RESTORATION

The Five Steps To Stream Adoption - Adopt-A-Stream Foundation

Know Your Watershed (For the formation of local, voluntary watershed management partnerships)

Spring Protection (PDF) - PACE

Strategies for Effective Public Involvement In Drinking Water Source Assessment and Protection - LWV

Tree Revetments For Streambank Stabilization - Steve Gough

PURIFICATION

A Simple Solar Water Pasteurizer - The Solar Cooking Archive

Basic Survival Rainwater Filter System

Clean Drinking Water In An Emergency - American Red Cross Bay Area

Diagnose Your Water & Find Technologies To Treat It Properly - theWaterSite.com

Filtering & Purifying Water (in survival situations) - Ranger Outdoor Survival Skills

Folke Günther (see left menu for 'Waste Water & Source Separation')

How To Clean Up Our Water - NRDC

Slow Sand Filter - Surfers Without Borders

Water Treatment (household water treatment, sedimentation basins, disinfection units, slow sand filters) - Lifewater International

SOLAR STILLS

Collect Water In A Solar Still - Desert USA

Folding/Collapsing High Capacity Solar Water Still - Dave's Planet

How To Create A Cheap Solar Still - PageWise

How To Make A Solar Still For Purifying Water In The Wilderness - eHow

WELLS & PUMPS

Build Your Own Water Well (plus hand pump/inertia pump instructions, cleaning, testing...) - Fred Dungan's Home Page

Getting Groundwater: Safe Wells & Waterholes (PDF) - PACE

How To Build Your Own Hand Pump (for a drilled well) - Keith Hendricks

How To Get Water From A Drilled Well When The Power Is Off - Countryside Magazine

Landowner's Guide to Plugging Abandoned Water Wells - TCEQ

Pumps (hand pumps, powered pumps, hydraulic ram pumps) - Lifewater International

Water Wells Tutorial (drilling, pumping, purification...) - Lifewater Canada