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Consider a Rain Barrel

A rain barrel is a relatively simple idea.  Normally the water from your roof would run into a storm sewer and then out into a local river, leading to massive amounts of not-always-clean water hitting the river every time it rains.  Then, when you want to water your lawn or garden, you turn on the faucet and use up a bunch of drinking water.

 A rain barrel should mitigate both the water use and the runoff problem.  It’s essentially a 60 gallon barrel that goes underneath your downspout.  It has a spigot on it.   When it rains, the barrel fills up.  (And even a small roof should be have enough water to fill it up in a light rain.)  Then, for the next few days, you can use the rain water to do the watering.  There is a little spigot on the bottom of the barrel that a hose connects to.

 As an added benefit, it should get the water that falls on the roof a long way from the foundation of the house, which is a great way to prevent your basement from flooding.