Read this article on rain harvesting on Yahoo News. There's a link to a website called Harvest H20 with articles and info on creating your own system. Santa Monica offers a rainwater harvesting rebate program. Now why can't they do that statewide?
All of our water used to be from our roof tanks. I disconnected them about 10 years ago becasue I was increasingly uncomfortable about overspray and dust from the surrounding onion/potato fields ending up on our roof and because the flashing and nail heads on our roof are made of lead. Now all our water is from a large in-ground cistern that is trickle fed from pipes laid by the district council.
All of our water comes from rain too. The Great Lakes are supplied only by rainwater. It's a rather large collection system, but it works fairly well if we have rain and can keep Indiana from polluting it. Tom
Rain harvesting is a neat idea, but an interesting case in (counter)point is Colorado. It is absolutely illegal here due to our complex water laws. Some one else (probably) owns the rights to use the water that falls on your roof, and if you collect it, you are stealing someone elses water.
I've complained about that nonsense before in this forum. From an efficiency standpoint it's an absurd law. You probably saw the Denver Post article about that woman down in the sou' west part of the state who ran into trouble.
Capturing rainwater is not stopping water that would otherwise be "wasted," but using water more efficiently. Pumping is eliminated and water is used on site. Surface ecosystems are dependent on runoff, just as estuaries and rivers are dependent on rain. Other forms of "capture" include permeable paving for driveways, streets and walkways. Capture generally requires a metal (not plastic or oil-based) roof, a screen to exclude macro particles and a storage system.
Ah, but according to the law it is. In reality you are correct, but that's a different kettle of fish to the law.
So what if you landscaped your yard in such a way as to prevent runoff? Will the water police ticket you and make you change your landscaping?
If they were paying attention... yes. You'd be creating an impoundment, basically, and that would be illegal.
While in Bermuda a few weeks ago I admired the rooftop water collection systems which are a signature part of that little island gem. Here in Eastern NC I just build a swale using my tractor to which I connected drain pipes from my gutters and a dry well. The swale then connects to a small settling pond. The point is that even in water rich areas like Eastern NC water management is important for the health of our rivers, marshes and the ocean. Fortunately my little pond survived with some help from my hand pump, rooftop rain and other runoff. It is nice to know that thousands of gallons of water are allowed to naturally percolate rather than run off rapidly into the ocean. A side benefit is that the little settling pond "dragonfly pond" provided habitat for animals of all types during a relatively dry summer. Besides rain barrels other considerations for rain harvesting might be wetland gardens or rain gardens. Here are a couple of helpful links. Wet land garden: NCEE-Building Rain Gardens Rain garden: http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/water/wm/dsfm/shore/documents/rgmanual.pdf
