[body] I was searching on the web for some information on rain collection barrels when I happened to stumble on to very unusual rainwater harvesting system that only marginally fit into the rain collection barrel category.|and I happened upon some amazing rainwater collection systems that look nothing like a traditional rain collection barrel.|when I ran into a most unusual rainwater collection system that look nothing like a rain collection barrel. The first of these was virtually invisible, looking like a rock waterfall in the front yard. This aesthetic waterfall scene was the creation of Pat Dixon, the owner of a landscaping business in Wisconsin, and is called the RainXchange.

By collecting rainwater runoff and storing it in 500 gallon tanks, the RainXchange can provide water for many daily chores during dry spells. The 500 gallon tank is located under the waterfall, which gets its water from this tank. By pumping water from the tank the waterfall is maintained and you can water your lawn.

Mr. Dixon does custom installations of these systems for his customers for anywhere from $6000-$10,000. The advantages of this system include, aesthetics, capacity, and of course the "cool" factor. The average water barrel holds about 50 or 60 gallons so it would take about 10 water barrels to provide the same water storage as one rainXchange system and lining up 10 water barrels along the side of your house does present some decoration problems. Mr. Dixon proposed that one might make their own system, especially if they lived outside of his service area. Mr. Dixon can be contacted at 608-742-5657 if you would like more information about the RainXchange system.

Now interestingly enough, shortly after I ran into the information on the rainXchange I ran into another very unusual system called the Original Rainwater Pillow. The Original Rainwater Pillow looks like a giant waterbed, and is a far cry from any rain collection barrel I have ever seen. This giant waterbed holds anywhere from 1000 gallons 200,000 gallons..

The old brain cells went into overdrive here, this was the perfect rainwater collection tank for building your own RainXchange. This system could be made very eco-friendly by adding a solar powered water pump to supply the waterfall and your daily watering needs. I haven't actually worked out the exact design for this, since I only recently started thinking about, but I'm pretty sure it could be done.

The manufacturer's suggested retail price for The Original Rainwater Pillow is about $4000, but comparing prices on the Internet is sure to result in savings. I am going to do further research and will post the link to the best price I find on my blog. I've already called the company and I will probably be selling this product to my website, but I already know from talking to them, that at least initially I will not be able to buy in enough volume to even get close to the lowest price on the Internet. I may never sell one, but I just got a have this product on my site..

Well I think I've shown you some very unusual rainwater harvesting systems. If you're rain falls mostly, only in a couple of months, like Southern California, these would be ideal. One or two rainwater barrels won't get you through a significant portion of the rest of the year. Unless you're using something like a Rainwater Hog which is designed to be lined up in a series the number of Rain collection barrels required would present a problem in aesthetics. These unusual rainwater harvesting devices might be the solution.