Green Gadget of the Week: RainPerfect solar pump for rain barrels

Summary: Powered by the sun and a rechargeable battery, RainPerfect can pump up to 100 gallons at 13 PSI on a single charge.

By Heather Clancy for GreenTech Pastures | July 29, 2011 -- 03:15 GMT (20:15 PDT)

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(This is the latest in a regular weekly series of spotlights on green technology that’s accessible to you and me. If you have a product to suggest for coverage, please send a note via my contact email.)

I've got water on the brain (figuratively, not literally) this week, so the solar-powered RainPerfect gadget caught my attention as something that would be useful in my own backyard.

The $139 product from Rule Industries combines a pump with a solar panel to pull water out of your rain barrel and water your lawn, run a low-pressure sprinkler or act as an aid with other irrigation activities.

The solar panel charges a NiMH battery to make the pump work; a single charge can pump up to 100 gallons of water at 13 PSI. RainPerfect can be used with rain barrels that range in capacity from 40 gallons to more than 65 gallons; it screws onto the barrel.

The RainPerfect product comes with a limited warranty of 1 year in the United States (two years in Europe).

The video below shows the unit in action:

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4 comments

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RE: Green Gadget of the Week: RainPerfect solar pump for rain barrels

This could be useful but for some, including us, rainwater collected from our roofs would need careful filtering to remove moss and dust or I would expect a small pump, and a sprinkler system, to become clogged. As do the taps at the base of our butts, sometimes. The growth of algae etc. in the collection butts would also have to be controlled. Without filtering and algae control the water we collect would not be clean enough to wash cars.

Thus for some, something like this would be good, but with a larger and more sophisticated collection tank, with filtration.

Ross44

29 July, 2011 05:42

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kangkangee

29 July, 2011 07:17

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RE: Green Gadget of the Week: RainPerfect solar pump for rain barrels

While I like options, raising your rain barrel up a few feet and taking water out of the bottom of the barrel would give a gravity feed that would do a pretty nice job of distributing the water, saving the $139 to put toward a solar panel or other green technology.