My So Cal city, in its infinite capacity to pass more and more building code requirements, now requires that any remodeling or new construction incorporate a rainwater collection and ground-water dispersal system on the property. Essentially this means that you have to install rain gutters and downspouts on the house, if none existed previously, and collect all the roof run-off and send it to a rock-lined and vented covered pit on the property. OR, collect the run-off in rain barrels for slow dispersal over time via a valve on the barrel. This is required even if you just replace a garage, as I recently did. So, I'm not going to worry so much anymore about solar stills (see my earlier post above), and just rely on my rain barrels for backup water, assuming we get our normal 14 inch annual rainfall in the indefinite future. I have a battery-operated UV water Steri-Pen (the Journey) with lots of batteries and lots of coffee filters.

And given the possibility of little or no rain, I'll keep the barrels filled in advance with the garden hose.