How to Harvest Rain......

[Scenic WonderRunner]

Thanks,

I've been looking for property on the Big Island, and I'm seeing a lot of catchment systems in use. This is what got me thinking of using this for irrigation here in San Diego. I don't need it for inside my home. I am able to really conserve there anyway.

So...

I looked up water catchment on da Big Island this morning, and found the most complete study I have seen yet.


Rainwater Catchment Systems for Hawaii...


About the author....



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[dlbrunner]

The only thing I would be concerned about would be mosquito breeding.

Since 1999, the west nile virus and the culex mosquito have hit the U.S. like crazy. Some counties have health departments which can cite you for having standing/stagnant water.

If you were diligent about keeping a larvacide, or a population of Gambusia fish in the tank you would probably be ok.

The other concern mentioned was not returning water to the Watershed. If the water you are collecting is from a fairly large area (some not your property) I would be concerned about what contaminants that water contains or is picking up. If you irrigate the property with this water you could be concentrating these contaminants around your house.

There is a lot of activity going on with stormwater regulation right now, expect it to only get tighter....

While I totally agree it is a good idea, and am looking into it myself, I like to play the Devil's Advoctate and make sure all the angles are looked at.

 

[ntsqd]

SWR,
That is a very interesting link. I'm saving the pdf for this weekend's reading!

 

[Ursidae69]

Then use a pump to irrigate my one acre later in the year during the hotter months..

What do you have in this one acre that needs irrigation? You have fruit trees or something?

amazing to think NM is actually more advanced in this area...

Hey, I resemble that remark.... :elkgrin:

 

[Scenic WonderRunner]

Thanks for your interest.

My entire acre is landscaped with everything from lawn to ground cover. To fruit trees and flowers, palm trees, larger trees, small juniper plants/acting as ground cover, etc. My water bill in the peak hot months can be as high as $350 for two months. My goal would not only be to eventually save money, but to also do my part to conserve. Conservation is really the more important goal.



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[calamaridog]

Mark,

Replace some thirsty plants with water misers.

Replace the lawn with a fake one. Like this:

http://www.easyturf.com/

Properly designed drip system will save much water.

Rain catchment sounds like a good idea too, but I know little about it.

 

[Scenic WonderRunner]

Thanks Bryan,

I already have All the drip systems in use that I can possibly use.


I finally found this great link that explains how to do it. This thread is not just for me. It's to give info for anyone who is interested about How to Harvest Rain.


http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/RM-12.pdf


I have the perfect location for water catchment because of my huge roof, huge driveway and a culvert that flows water like a creek during rain storms.

I have a low spot down by the culvert that could hold and hide the storage tanks. And the tanks could be fed by gravity, perfectly.

With all of these combined, I could catch more water than I would ever need and even more water than I could afford water storage for.



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[calamaridog]

I had the Easyturf lawn at my La Mesa townhouse and it looked real. No cutting and no water makes me a believer. The fake lawn we have in Vegas looks more "fake", but once again, no water and no cutting makes me a happy boy.

I'm interested to hear more about the rain catching. My parents may do something similar up near Julian if it works well for you.

 

[hrjaw]

We just picked up a couple of these....
http://www.nerainbarrel.com/

it has been about three weeks now and I like then. I use the water for the garden and the plantings and all. might not amount to much in the short term but if it means i do not have to run to the hose to fill up every day, then why not.

so far, so good.

 

[jatibb]

caught a show on hg network. a guy in washington state was adding a complete grey water system to his house. cost approx. $1500.00 if memory serves. i believe you have to have a metal roof or the gravel material will build up inside. he had a tank for storage straight from the roof, then grvity fed through a homemade filter box (plastic container,gravel on bottom, through fiber filter material) i thought it resembled a very large fish tank filter. then a pump to the house. the home owner admitted that it was illegal to use grey water in their toilets in that county (wheres the crime there?flushing drinking water or actually saving water?) but i do understand that its not that the municipalities dont want "competition" for water but at least they know whats coming out of their end of the pipe going to you.using dirty water to dispose of dirty water seems ok, but possible bacteria conflicts? i dont know. sewage and runoff are two completely different things. anyway, the stored water has to be kept completly from sunlight or algae will grow.

 

[ntsqd]

Would not surprise me to learn that the illegality is at least partly rooted in the waste treatment plant's expectation of otherwise freash water coming in to help with their process. By recycling waste-water he is diluting their fresh water supply. One person isn't likely to upset the balance, but picture the a whole community doing this.....

 

[FLYFISHEXPERT]

I know this doesn't have anything to do with catching rain water, but in light of saving water, I designed and installed my sprinkler system. Being as it is my nature to over think and analyze things, I spent several months researching sprinkler heads. I came to the conclusion that for my turf grass, I would use Hunter's MP Rotator series of heads, mprotator.com. Unlike the traditional 'Rain Bird style' these use streams of water and do not allow for as much water to be turned to mist. In fact they are so much more efficient, several municipalities across the country have been offering incentives if you switch over. Please note, I have no affiliation with this company, I just really like their sprinkler heads.

 

[Scenic WonderRunner]

Good idea....Fly

You can also help stop the "loss by mist" effect by watering without the sun being up. I water my grass early in the morning just before the sun comes up when the air is still cool.

I water my huge back slope of ground cover just after the sun goes down and the air begins to cool. I'm using tiny mist heads. You can actually see the cool air push the misty water down onto the ground cover.

If I water this same slope in the heat of the day, you can see the warm air just suck the water mist into the air and move it away.




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[RedDog]

Excellent topic. I recall my grandmother in the 1960's having a rain barrel at the corner of the house and she used the contents to water her flower beds and tomatoes.

A decade later as a teen when my folks put in an underground sprinkler system, I recall my father routinely running it either after sunset or prior to sunrise. It was a very rare occasion that I personally ever saw it in use actually. To this day, few things burn me more than seeing sprinkler systems spraying away in 90º temperatures in blazing sun - or even worse, running on timers with complete disregard for the fact that it might be raining.

 

[hrjaw]

i spent last september installing all new sod at out new (for us) home. we had an underground sprinkler system installed. one of the things we do is have it timed for 5:00 in the morning. another item we had installed was a sensor that senses when it is raining so that the sprinklers will not go on. I can also access it via the Web so that i can change the settings when I am not home.

Fly,
I like the sprinkler heads you described. something i need to look into. another thing i would like to try and do is install some type of drip system for the flower beds and vegetable gardens as well.