[cptacek]

You can use the new water in the toilet. Take the top off of the toilet and watch what happens when you flush. You will see the level of water go down and then as the water fills up again, there will be a float that comes up that is attached to a valve that stops the incoming water when it gets to a certain level. You can hold the float up, flush and then fill the tank with the water from your shower. If you want to do this all the time, you could tie the float up and use that water at all times...depends on how many people are using that toilet if it will be too much of an inconvenience.

But, you need to make sure that there is some water in the toilet bowl at all times. If you don't, the gases from the sewer can make it up into your house. If you have a bathroom that you never use, you should make sure that all the water doesn't evaporate out at some point or you could have problems with this.

Also, the washers don't monitor how much water comes out of the hose into the washing machine. It has a similar float mechanism to see high how the water is. You could use the drippy water in the machine, and then the machine will know when the float is high enough and it won't fill up any more.

I've heard before of people who get 55 gallon plastic drums and catch the rain water from their gutters. There are schematics on the internet somewhere...can't remember where...but the basic idea is that you put a spigot at the bottom of the drum so you can attach a water hose. Put a release valve at the top so if you get a gully washer the water has somewhere to dump out of...you could get another 55 gallon drum to catch the water coming out of the first drum, but this probably would only be necessary in very wet parts of the world (i.e., not in the midwest right now). Then, you put the drum underneath the end of the rain gutter run-off. You need to run the rain gutter into the drum and seal it so that it is not a breeding ground for mosquitos. This will help keep the water cleaner too. Remember, this system is using gravity. If you want to water your lawn or other plants and be comfortable, you need to have the level of the water higher than the level of your hand that is holding the hose, or else the water won't run out. So, you may need to build a sturdy (water is HEAVY) platform to put the water barrel up high enough.