The Rainbow Hostel rainwater catchment system

Rainbow 4 Black Tanks
Project data
Type Rainwater harvesters
Authors
Location Golfito, Costa Rica
Status Deployed
Years

The Rainbow Hostel is located close to Golfito, Costa Rica. This forming community intends to serve as a learning center for social sustainability. A gravity fed, rainwater catchment system supplies all of the water for the main house which includes sinks, showers and toilets.

Lower system

Rain water is collected from roof of the main house with gutters (Fig 1). The water passes through screen to filter out debris (Fig 2). Water then flows to 3 tanks and then is gravity fed to the downstairs of main house and bathrooms.

  • Fig 1: Water collected from roof
    Fig 1: Water collected from roof
  • Fig 2: The screen to filter out debris
    Fig 2: The screen to filter out debris
  • Fig 3: 3 tanks gravity feed downstairs
    Fig 3: 3 tanks gravity feed downstairs

Upper System

Water from the upper system (Fig 1) goes from a small roof (Fig 2) and through a concrete tank filled with sand (Fig 3). The water is filtered through the sand and is stored in an upper tank (Fig 4). This water gravity feeds the upstairs of house.

  • Fig 1: Small upper structure
    Fig 1: Small upper structure
  • Fig 2:Water collected from roof
    Fig 2:Water collected from roof
  • Fig 3: Water piped into sand tank
    Fig 3: Water piped into sand tank
  • Fig 4: Sand filtered water stored in upper tank
    Fig 4: Sand filtered water stored in upper tank
Page data
Authors Liz Kimbrough
License CC-BY-SA-3.0
Organizations The Rainbow Hostel
Cite as Liz Kimbrough (2010–2025). "The Rainbow Hostel rainwater catchment system". Appropedia. Retrieved November 28, 2025.
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