Rainwater harvesting

[MsDoodahs]

The thread on long term water storage reminded me of the stuff I've been gathering on rainwater harvesting.

Here's a good older MEN article...

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Green-Homes/2003-08-01/Harvest-Rainwater.aspx

This is a pdf that has some good info for Texas folks...

http://www.twdb.state.tx.us/iwt/rainwater/docs/RainwaterCommitteeFinalReport.pdf

This is cool...

http://rainharvester.blogspot.com/

[rancher89]

ARRRGGHHH


sorry, I've been wanting to put up rain barrels for so long, but something always seems to come up.

I WILL do so this year before winter

[Mckarnin]

We've been looking for a place that is discreet to put one up at our home. 10 years ago I laid rebar/poured a concrete pad and installed 1250 gallon water storage/rainwater collection tank for my mom and it's still functional so the rainbarrel shouldn't be a biggie.

[rancher89]

So is the storage tank on a hill and the water is pulled down to the garden by gravity? or do you use a pump?

I live in the city, albeit a fairly rural area so far, so anything I do will have to be on a different scale. I do have a rather large roof exposure on my house and five downspouts on the back side of the house and five in the front. We thought about setting up a series of 55 gal barrels on elevated stands, fed from at least two downspouts and cross connected so you can pull water from a lower barrel and get the additional pressure from the upper barrels.

Unfortunately, the privacy fence has to happen first, so as to keep the kids in the neighborhood out of our stuff. We're almost done, last posts go up today and the last panels either today or tomorrow. I ache everywhere. We're on our second bundle of fence panels. Luckily, the lady who live here before, put in a fence along two sides of the lot, we just had to do three sides (odd shaped lot.)

Then we do the water storage unit.......and make the garden bigger......

[Ozwest]

So is the storage tank on a hill and the water is pulled down to the garden by gravity? or do you use a pump?

I live in the city, albeit a fairly rural area so far, so anything I do will have to be on a different scale. I do have a rather large roof exposure on my house and five downspouts on the back side of the house and five in the front. We thought about setting up a series of 55 gal barrels on elevated stands, fed from at least two downspouts and cross connected so you can pull water from a lower barrel and get the additional pressure from the upper barrels.

Unfortunately, the privacy fence has to happen first, so as to keep the kids in the neighborhood out of our stuff. We're almost done, last posts go up today and the last panels either today or tomorrow. I ache everywhere. We're on our second bundle of fence panels. Luckily, the lady who live here before, put in a fence along two sides of the lot, we just had to do three sides (odd shaped lot.)

Then we do the water storage unit.......and make the garden bigger......

In a environment such as you describe. A simple pressure pump will do.

A good one will cost you about 400.00.

Gravity fed systems for garden use will work on downward sloples of minimal incline,

Gravity fed systems sufficient to supply pressure to run showers will require a steep downhill position on a property, or on small holdings, a holding tank elevated above the premises. A pump will need to intermittently pump water to this tank.

Why do small towns have a elevated tank? Same principle.