Rainwater Harvesting: Reasons to Consider

The How Do Gardener ^ | Jan. 21, 2014 | Rick Bickling

[orsonwb]

In the first installment of this two part series, we examine the factors that are influencing how individuals, major corporations, and other countries, are rethinking the most basic, yet vital resource of all, water. In part two, we take a detailed look at an increasingly popular alternative to the municipal water system, Rainwater Harvesting...

[orsonwb]

I'm not ready to gather rainwater for the whole house yet but thought a small rain barrel for the garden might be worth a try this spring.

[nuconvert]

Nice if it isn’t illegal where you live

[Spirochete]

Do you live in a western state? They have draconian water laws and many of them outlaw catching rainwater. They claim that once it hits your roof, it’s not rainwater anymore but runoff.

[Sacajaweau]

My son in law hooked up a flex pvc from the gutter outfall to the garden. When he mows, he just flips the pipe to near the house. Better than a rainbarrel.....you don’t have to lug water or worry about slime and/or mosquitos or someone falling in. Yes, kids do stupid things.

[JimRed]

Depends on where you are. We are visiting Tortola in the British West Indies, and most of the residential water supply here is rainwater harvested and stored in cisterns. Public waster appears to be desalinated seawater, and that is in a limited area of larger towns.

[DIRTYSECRET]

What about bird turds on the roof?

[onceone]

Not all western states.

Excerpted from http://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/californias-rainwater-recapture-act-let-66504

Californians may now legally capture and use rainwater harvested from rooftops. Departing from Western states’ long-standing tradition of making it illegal to capture and use precipitation based on the prior appropriation doctrine, the California Legislature enacted and Governor Brown signed the “Rainwater Capture Act of 2012” [2012 Cal. Stats. ch. 537, Sec. 2.] (the Act). The Act exempts the capture and use of rainwater from rooftops from the State Water Resources Control Board’s (SWRCB) permitting authority over appropriations of water. This development affords residential users and private and public entities with a new source of on-site water supply, which should reduce reliance on potable water for landscaping needs and provide a recharge benefit to underlying groundwater aquifers.

[jiggyboy]

Colorado came to its senses a couple of years ago and took the ancient laws off the books.

[Slambat]

You better check with your local regime. In some places
it’s illegal to harvest rain watter.

http://www.naturalnews.com/029286_rainwater_collection_water.html

[Slambat]

“What about bird turds on the roof?”

Filter and treat water with bleach. Your catch container
should settle out the heaver stuff like loose shingle
derbies. As long as there are no trees over your roof,
bird poop should be a minimum.

[JimRed]

What about bird turds on the roof?

Filtration and treatment, just like well water in many localities.

[Psalm 73]

"...Your catch container should settle out the heavier stuff..."

Bottom-line: in a SHTF situation, it's a lot easier than lugging buckets of water from lakes or streams several miles away.

[nuconvert]

Not really.....

“Although it is permissible to direct your residential property roof downspouts toward landscaped areas, unless you own a specific type of exempt well permit, you cannot collect rainwater in any other manner, such as storage in a cistern or tank, for later use. Please review our publications below, as well as links to CSU Extension’s information on this topic and Colorado law on the subject as written in the Colorado Revised Statutes, before applying for a Rooftop Precipitation Collection System Permit. If your well has not been registered, you will also need to Register an Existing Well before applying.

http://water.state.co.us/SURFACEWATER/SWRIGHTS/Pages/RainwaterGraywater.aspx

[jiggyboy]

Oops, much obliged. I had forgotten it was mostly just for people who have a well or would be allowed to have a well (35+ acres of land).

[zeugma]

What about bird turds on the roof?

If you're using the water for plants, that's a feature, not a bug.

If you're smart though, your rain barrel will have a feature that allows the first bit of water that runs off the roof to be diverted. Once a certain amount has "washed" the roof, the remaining water goes into the barrel. There are several very low-tech ways to do this.