Water from the Sky: A Reused PET Wall for Rainwater Harvesting
To conserve water, communities have explored harvesting rain from the sky by reusing discarded plastic bottles and jugs. The Eko-muro H20 concept, conceived by a Colombian architect and his children, has been deployed with notable success across multiple locations in several South American nations, delivering access to a crucial resource where it is scarce.
The core idea centers on a vertical wall made from interconnected recycled PET containers with individual capacities of two and a half to three liters, though larger sizes are possible. These containers form a wall-like water tank that occupies minimal space, capable of supplying water to a single home or a small community, depending on the size of the installation.
The inventors of this approach have earned numerous awards and recognitions, including recognition as a finalist in the Science in Action program. In 2012, a variety of cistern wall structures were available on the market, but many were built from high-cost fiberglass and rarely found in local stores.
The Ekomuro system offers the same rainwater harvesting function in a more ecological and straightforward manner. The key ingredient is something abundantly available almost everywhere: discarded plastic containers.
Remarkable installations in remote towns and villages across Colombia and other Latin American countries have been made possible through community involvement. Bottles and carafes are collected through cooperatives, schools, and various events, while the caps are punctured to connect different containers. This joint effort drives higher production for the wall structures.
The entire process begins with rainwater flowing into the lowest bottles of the structure and then gradually filling the subsequent containers. The system includes sections where overflow occurs once a chamber is full, ensuring continuous distribution of water as the wall fills.
The water obtained after filtration becomes potable for drinking. The project founder notes that many communities in Colombia lack adequate drinking water and that creating a plastic bottle rainwater collector at home is simple and inexpensive. The project emphasizes community scale and practical implementation, especially in rural and peri-urban areas.
In addition to the original model, a second generation of Ekomuro installations expands on the concept by storing rainwater while also recycling wastewater for various reuse scenarios after proper treatment. This broader approach enhances water resilience in communities facing limited supply and fluctuating rainfall.
Further information is available through community profiles and project reports documenting the installation methods, materials recovered, and the social benefits generated by local participation and capacity building. The initiative has been discussed in regional sustainability conferences and has inspired similar low-cost, low-tech rainwater harvesting projects that leverage local plastic waste streams. [Citation: Latin American water sustainability reports, project development notes]
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Note: The Ekomuro H2O initiative has continued to evolve, focusing on scalable designs that empower communities to collect, store, and reuse rainwater while reducing plastic waste. The approach demonstrates how simple, locally sourced materials can produce meaningful improvements in water access and resilience for households and small communities alike. [Cited field observations and project summaries]
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