Simple and Working Rainwater Harvesting Model Using Waste Materials

Hey guys, how are you all?

So, I was recently given an assignment on a new type of learning called Art Integrated Learning from the Central Board Of Secondary Education in India. This assignment was from the subject Science and that too, Biology. It was based on the topic, 'Sustainable Management of Natural Resources'. So, I put a little thought into the project and decide to make a working model showing simple rainwater harvesting using waste materials. ( Actually, I had been given a list of things I could make for the project, from which, I selected this ).

So, now let me begin with my step-by-step story of how I turned this thought into a working model.

The materials I used for this project are listed down below:

1. A4 Sheet (*1)
2. Transparent Sheet (*1)
3. Glue Gun (*1)
4. Glue Sticks ( As much required )
5. Ice-cream sticks ( round as well as flat ones )
6. Toothpicks ( a few of them )
7. A pair of scissors
8. A pencil
9. An eraser
10. A ruler
11. A permanent marker
12. A used plastic straw
13. A rubber grip from a used pen
14. The conical part/tip of used pen
15. A used pen cap
16. Paints ( I used water based )
17. Paint Brush ( I mostly use a 2 and a 12 )
18. A disposable plastic bowl
19. Paper glue
20. A color palette
21. A large, empty and used box with a replaceable lid.
22. Some cardboard

You will observe that mostly all the materials used are waste materials except paints, gums and adhesives, paper, etc.

So, after you have collected all the required things, let's start making it!

As the model is based on a simple, yet working rainwater harvesting mode, I built a house, which mostly looks like a garage using the empty box as the roof ( later acting as an important part ) and the replaceable lid as the floor of the house. To make the walls, I used ice-cream sticks ( both the flat ones as well as the round ones ) to make the house/garage look complete. I used hot glue to glue all of them together.

To make water potable, I made a mini model water filter using the rubber grip, conical part, plastic straw and pen cap ( earlier mentioned ) to make it. I placed them all in a pattern so as to make it look like a water filter. You can refer to the images for how I made it. I then, used hot glue to stick the plastic straw to the water filter. This plastic straw will be an important part in the working of the model.

Then, I made holes on the upper part of the roof and lower corner of the roof. The lower corner will act as the connecting medium for the working of the model and the upper hole is for the check safe for overflow of water ( as the holding capacity of the roof/tank is not too much, otherwise, the roof would collapse ). Then, I cut out a small portion of the plastic straw and attached it to the top hole with hot glue. Then, I attached the remaining water filter and straw to the lower part of the roof.

To add more reality, I took a transparent sheet and drew parallel lines on it using a permanent marker and a ruler. Then, I glued them in place, the large one on the rear of the house/garage and the smaller one on the front. I did this as well using hot glue.

Time to color the house! I made small to big dots of different colors on the walls of the house to make it look nice. You can add your own colors/designs according to your liking.

In this step, I took a piece of cardboard larger than the house and then glued the house to it using hot glue. Then, I took a disposable plastic bowl ( mentioned in supplies ) and colored it as much as I could. Then, I glued the water filter to the disposable bowl, near the house.

It's coloring time again. I used different shades of green and yellow to make the base look like a lawn. But, the results are above, as you can see.

Then, I came up to the last step of the project. I used A4 sized paper and wrote short and relevant information on them using a permanent marker and then attached them to toothpicks at the ends using paper glue. The, I glued these posts in their respective locations near to the parts that they were describing. Then, I also wrote what the model was about on the corner of the base.

After all this, the project was ready.

But, one thing, I have been stating that it is a 'working' model from the very beginning of this Instructable. It is because it actually works. I have uploaded a video showing how it works.

A little note though, I had to tilt the model a bit because the corner hole I made on the roof was a bit high than the level of the roof. So, the model had to be tilted in order for it to work.

Thanks for sticking around!

Please do check the video for the working of the model!

Stay Healthy! Stay Safe!