Rainwater is free: S’pore HDB resident uses hack to collect it to lower utility bills

Singapore ― Since rainwater is one of the commodities that is free of charge, a Housing & Development Board (HDB) resident discovered an ingenious way of collecting it using only an umbrella, plastic contraption, and pail.

A Facebook post by a netizen uploaded on social media on Sunday (Sept 26) has garnered online applause for its creativity.

Instead of umbrellas being used to protect someone from the rain, it was transformed as a means to collect rainwater.

The resident hooked the umbrella’s handle onto the railing of an HDB corridor.

The open umbrella would then collect rainwater and funnel it down through the built-in slits of the corridor barrier using a plastic bottle cut open.

Underneath was a pail ready to collect the rainwater.

Responding to netizen comments about securing the umbrella onto the railing, the resident has since tied it with raffia string.

Rainwater is collected for watering plants, flushing the toilets and other non-potable uses to lower utility bills.

A photo by one Loo Ming won first prize by Singapore’s National Water Agency, PUB, in Jan 2020 for their rainwater collection approach.

“Water is precious, and every drop counts. At this wet market, the stallholders have placed pails to collect rainwater on a rainy day. The rainwater is re-used to wash their stalls at the end of the day,” said PUB.

PUB and the National Environment Agency have detailed conditions to collect rainwater in private premises legally.

For example, the collected rainwater cannot be sold, and any waste is discharged properly into the public sewer. /TISG

Read related: Yes, rainwater is taxed—but only when collected in large amounts

Yes, rainwater is taxed—but only when collected in large amounts