How to Collect Rainwater for Watering Houseplants (Using Tidy Cat Litter Buckets)

FINALLY!

We have rain in the forecast!

Like many states, Minnesota has been in a severe drought since this Spring. When we see rain in the forecast, we all want to do a happy rain dance!

We have two large rain barrels that I use to water all my outdoor flower gardens – but with the severe drought, there is hardly any water left in them. With rain in this week’s forecast, I’ll be collecting as much rain as I can! I thought I’d share my tips with you.

Use Tidy Cats Litter Buckets to Collect and Store Rainwater

Tidy Cats litter buckets work great for catching and storing rainwater. Here’s how to use these buckets and why this particular bucket is so awesome.

More square feet = more collected rain

• More buckets = more water – In order to collect as much rainwater as possible, you need more square feet. For example, if you set out just one bucket and it rains an inch, you’re not going to have much water in your bucket. But… if you set out a lot of buckets, you’re increasing the square footage of coverage, and ultimately will have collected more rain.
  – You can use this formula to figure out how many gallons you’d have based on rainfall and square feet: 1″ of rain x 1 sq. ft. = 0.623 gallons.
  – With this formula, let’s say it rains 1″ and you have 16 Tidy Cats litter buckets set out. Each bucket is about 120 square inches (so just shy of 1 square foot), so with 16 of them and 1″ of rain, you would have around 8 gallons of rainwater. The more buckets you put out, the more rainwater you’ll have captured. NOTE: One Tidy Cat bucket holds about 5.7 gallons.
• Set buckets under an overhang – If you have an area under an overhanging roof that doesn’t have a gutter on it (a house, garage, or shed), set your buckets up to catch the rain coming off the roof. With the surface area of the roof, you’ll capture a lot more water in your buckets this way. If you do have gutters, make sure to set up a bucket under the downspout, and change the bucket often when it’s raining – the bucket will fill up fast.
  TIP: Rain chains (like this copper rain chain) can easily be installed on roof overhangs and help direct the rain into a bucket.
• Set buckets on a driveway – We have gutters on our house and outbuildings that feed into our rain barrels. Because we don’t have any additional run-off from our roof, I set out our buckets on our concrete driveway. This allows me to capture even more rainwater than our rain barrels alone. I recommend setting your buckets out on a hard surface (driveway, patio, or sidewalk) versus on the grass, as you’ll want your grass to soak up as much rain as possible and not be covered in buckets.
• Strap them together – After setting out several dozen buckets next to each other in a grid pattern, bungee-cord them all together so wind and wild animals don’t knock them over – basically one big cord around the outside of all buckets – a rope works, too.
• Why this bucket? – Because the Tidy Cats litter buckets are rectangle-shaped, you don’t have big gaps between the buckets – like you would with round buckets – so you can capture more rain in the same area.

Consolidate rain and store 

• Storage – When it’s done raining, consolidate the rain into fewer buckets, pop the sealable lids back on, and stack them until the water is needed.
• Filter – As you are consolidating the water into one bucket, you can filter out debris (if needed) using a piece of window screen, burlap, or cheesecloth draped over one bucket. This will remove most sticks, leaves and bugs that may have fallen into the buckets.
• Why this bucket? The sealable lids are very strong and allow you to stack filled buckets to save storage space. The lids also keep critters out and help keep the rainwater clean and free of debris. The handles of these buckets are also very strong and allow you to carry them to where they are needed.

Additional Tips

• Where to find buckets – If you don’t have a cat, or don’t use this brand of litter, you can usually find these buckets – at no cost – on places such as Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist.com, Nextdoor, and within groups that offer items for free (you can find these groups within Facebook).
• Rinse well before using – Make sure to rinse the buckets before using to remove any residue of cat litter. I highly recommend you use a DRY paper towel or cloth to first wipe out any unused cat litter BEFORE adding water to rinse. This way, you won’t have to deal with wet litter that can be messy and causes problems with sewers or septic systems. Rinsing with mild dish soap and water is really all you need to do to prepare these buckets for saving and storing rainwater.
• Store until needed – When you’re not using these buckets, they can store and stack nicely within each other, which takes up less space. Place all the lids in the top bucket for easy storage. Because of the bucket shape, they store nicely along a garage wall, next to or in a shed, or even stacked beneath a deck.
• Additives – If you wanted, you could add a biological control such as Mosquito Bits to the water to help control fungus gnats in houseplants. You can read more about this at How to Get Rid of Fungus Gnats in your Houseplants.
• Snow can work, too – If you live in an area where it snows in the Winter, you could do this same thing with snow. You’d just need a lot of snow. Every 10″ of snow equals 1″ of water. In the example above, if you had 16 Tidy Cat buckets filled with at least 10″ of snow, that would melt to 1″ of water – so you’d have the same 8 gallons of water as in the example. If you have the space to melt this much snow, it sure would be a great way to get rid of all those piles of snow after shoveling a driveway!

Additional Notes

• Other uses for these buckets – We use these buckets for SO MANY things around our house, in addition to collecting rainwater. Here are just a few additional ideas:
  – Potting Soil – Use the buckets to store potting soil (for both indoor and outdoor plants). The sealed lid helps to keep out pests, and using soil from the bucket is easier than using soil in a plastic bag.
  – Tool Storage – The buckets are a great way to store garden hand tools, as well as tools used for caring for houseplants.
• Why rainwater? – There are many benefits to capturing rainwater to use with your plants. One of the benefits is that the rainwater doesn’t have chlorine or fluoride in it (like city tap water does) and is, therefore, healthier for your plants – both houseplants and outdoor plants. Rainwater is also free – so you don’t have to spend money on distilled water to use on your sensitive houseplants. It’s also very easy to capture and store rainwater and doesn’t cost money to do so.

Important Note

Collecting rainwater in some states can be illegal, or have limitations, or require permits. Right now, Colorado is the only state that prohibits this practice, but the state laws change frequently. Make sure you know if it’s okay to collect rainwater in your state before doing this DIY. Here’s a helpful resource regarding the laws about collecting rainwater in each state – Rainwater Harvesting Laws.

Hope this helps give you ideas. Save that free rainwater – your plants will thank you!

Do you collect rainwater for your plants (indoor and/or outdoor plants)? Share your tips in a comment below!

Waiting for the rain

Bungee corded together

Come on rain!

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