Rainwater Harvesting

[Backyard Getaway (Lisa Burns)]

Rainwater harvesting is the collecting and storing, of rainwater for reuse, before it reaches the aquifer. The simplest way to collect water is to channel the rain off your roof into gutters and down pipes that pour into a rain barrel. Normally, this type of storage system is above ground and is gravity fed with a spigot at the bottom of the barrel to connect a water hose. Collected water has many uses from watering your garden and topping off your pond to washing your car or supplying drinking water for your livestock. What if you have a large garden you wish to irrigate using harvested rainwater? You may want something larger than one or two rain barrels. Why not create a storage system that would also add beauty to your yard.

concept is the same; you collect rain from the gutter downspout just as you would for your rain barrel. Water is then routed into an underground cistern you created by using liner, pump vault and eco-blox. Now for the best part, a layer of permeable pavers or a pond-free water feature covers your underground cistern, creating a usable space in your yard. Using 45mil EPDM liner as your base allows you to make your cistern as large as you need. Eco-blox are important components in your cistern. They are produced by Atlantic Water Gardens to help hold as much water as possible in your cistern while making it strong enough to hold the pavers or rock for the water feature. A submersed pump draws the water from the cistern to your garden when needed.

There are a couple of things to consider when creating a cistern. If you wish to use your stored water to top off your fish pond or supply drinking water for livestock, you will want the water to be clean. After a dry spell, the first water from your roof will contain pollutants that must flush to waste. You can also add a filter to your downspout to help remove these pollutants. Waste, dirt & debris are removed from your rainwater using the Atlantic Water Gardens Clean Rain Ultra. Mosquitoes may be another concern. Add Biological mosquito control from Microbe-Lift to keep mosquitoes from breeding. Microbe-Lift is safe for fish and animals.  Rain harvesting is just one example of how you can conserve water and give back to the environment while making your private space a bit more enjoyable.

 

[Backyard Getaway (Lisa Burns)]

Aquabarrel, I haven't seen those before they are really nice & I love the size. We have actually installed systems like the one in my article for a few of our customers for around $2500-$3000 for a 600 gallon system, price varies depending on what decorative element they decided to use above ground. The homeowner would of course save a bit if they installed it themselves eliminating the labor cost.

[Aquabarrel Rain Barrel - Barry]

While an underground system is very desirable it does require a large outlay of funds and is not a DIY project for the average homeowner. For a large above ground DIY project, one might consider the 650 gallon WaterWall or a 1000gallon RainPillow available from www.aquabarrel.com