{"id":89627,"date":"2021-08-24T13:00:03","date_gmt":"2021-08-24T17:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/?p=89627"},"modified":"2021-08-23T13:49:55","modified_gmt":"2021-08-23T17:49:55","slug":"how-to-get-started-with-rainwater-collection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hobbyfarms.com\/how-to-get-started-with-rainwater-collection\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Get Started With Rainwater Collection"},"content":{"rendered":"

T<\/span>hrowing a rain barrel in here or there used to be a nice-to-have for many gardeners. But as we experience more unpredictable weather patterns (including heavy flooding and more periods of drought) rainwater collection systems are rapidly moving to the need-to-have category. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Replacing standard hoses and sprinklers with spot watering and drip irrigation is also gaining ground. Harvesting rainwater\u2014particularly during extremely heavy rains\u2014reduces stormwater runoff, thereby protecting area watersheds.<\/p>\n

It also mitigates topsoil and nutrient loss from your own land.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Extra Benefits\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Mary Ann Capehart serves as instructional specialist for Water Wise<\/a>, a program within the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension service. According to Capehart, rainwater is particularly prized for its ability to help flush salts out of the soil.<\/p>\n

\u201cGroundwater\u2014especially in the West\u2014tends to have high salinity,\u201d she says. Because its naturally high mineral content can make nutrient uptake more difficult for plants, even an occasional watering with rainwater can make a big difference.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Gardeners making the switch from municipal water sources to rainwater may notice their plants perking up, too. Some municipal water supplies may contain chemical disinfection byproducts. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cChlorine evaporates, but chloramine does not,\u201d Capehart says. \u201cAnd more water treatment plants are turning to chloramine.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Municipal water also can contain emerging contaminants such as pharmaceuticals, microbeads from personal care products, fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPlants respond a lot better to rainwater,\u201d says Jonathan Meier, owner of Rain Brothers<\/a>, a company in Columbus, <\/span>Ohio, that specialize in sales and service of everything related to cisterns. \u201cAnd a small-scale rainwater collection system will pay for itself within a season typically\u2014especially if someone is on municipal water.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Read more: Check out this video on building a DIY rain barrel and drip irrigation system!<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Catching On\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Meier began selling rain catchment equipment in 2007, and he says 2020 was his best year so far. \u201cPeople were stuck at home and thinking more about backyard conservation or backyard gardens,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Sarah Sojka, vice president of the American Rainwater Catchment Systems Association Foundation<\/a> board and an associate professor of environmental studies and physics at Randolph College, has noticed an uptick in interest in rainwater collection, too. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen increases in people coming to the [ARCSA] website,\u201d she says. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is actually really hard to track how many rainwater harvesting systems there are out there, particularly because they range so dramatically in size from a 100-gallon barrel to 1-million-gallon, underground storage system, or a 1- or 2-million-gallon pond.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s Your Capacity?\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

If you are in the western U.S., you might already rely on a rain catchment system, but you may need to switch to even larger tank in the coming years. \u201cNormally, we would have a giant monsoon, and you would get as much [rainwater] as you could that one time of year and then save it for the really dry spells,\u201d Capehart says.<\/p>\n

\u201c[However,] we are losing rainfall altogether, so [when it does rain,] it\u2019s like, \u2018Ooh! How much can I harvest?\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Whether you have a modest rain barrel and want to upgrade or you\u2019re starting from scratch, you can follow a simple formula to find out what will work best for your needs. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a balance between your roof size \u2014 because you\u2019re not going to be able to capture more than what hits that roof in a given period of time \u2014 and how much water you actually use,\u201d Capehart says.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe engineering formula for stormwater calculations is 0.6 gallons per square foot of roof,\u201d Meier says. In other words: If, for instance, your roof area is 1,000 square feet, you would multiply that by 0.6 gallons. If you get an inch of rain, you could collect 600 gallons of rainwater from a roof that size.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Read more: Need a lot of rainwater? Trade the barrels for IBCs!<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Gauging Need\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Next, determine the amount of rainwater you\u2019re likely to use. \u201cIf I am watering this much area, and I only have a 55-gallon drum, how effective is that going to be?\u201d Sojka asks.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

If you already have an established garden, you can assess your water usage with a hose meter. \u201cThey\u2019re not expensive, and then you can see how much you\u2019re watering,\u201d Capehart says. \u201cWater by hand [with the metered hose], see how much water your plants need, and then you can think, \u2018If I was doing this every week or even more during the hot periods, what would that look like?\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While individual rain barrels hold about <\/span>55 gallons each, larger, aboveground tanks can accommodate 500 gallons or more. \u201cWhen you think about how much you might want [in order] to water a tree in a drought, for instance, <\/span>it would be something like 1,000 gallons,\u201d Capehart says.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If you get frequent rains, you might not need a behemoth storage tank. But if rain is scarce, it\u2019s better to capture as much as you can while you have the chance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Rainwater Collection Caveats\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Before you spend a dime on barrels, tanks or cisterns, check in with your county extension agency or water resource board to make sure you\u2019re legally allowed to harvest rainwater where you live.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the things that\u2019s challenging with rainwater harvesting is that it\u2019s regulated by so many different people,\u201d Sojka says. \u201cIt\u2019s regulated on the water rights side. It\u2019s regulated on a health side. Sometimes, it\u2019s regulated on a stormwater runoff side.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s say you\u2019ve secured the all-clear and you think you\u2019ve got the numbers and sizes of your catchment tanks all figured out. That\u2019s a good start, but it\u2019s just the start. \u201cThe top mistake I see people making is selecting the wrong downspout to harvest from,\u201d Meier says. \u201cJust because you have a downspout on the house doesn\u2019t mean that you have a lot of water coming off of it.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He recommends locating the largest area of your roof that\u2019s being drained and harvesting from that particular spout. Also, be sure the pipes that go from the roof gutter to your rain barrel are large enough to capture even very heavy flows.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You should also take care to divert your barrel\u2019s overflow well away from your home\u2019s foundation. \u201cWe have to think about what happens with failure,\u201d Sojka says. \u201cWhat happens if the little spigot at the bottom of your rainwater container starts leaking? Where is that leak going to go?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"rainwater
Ivanova Tetyana\/Shutterstock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Higher Ground\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Something else to consider? \u201cA lot of people put in a system of rain barrels and they\u2019re like, \u2018Oh, I\u2019m just going to fill the watering can over here and I\u2019ll carry it over to my garden and it will be no big deal,\u2019 Sojka says. \u201cBut within a month of doing that, they\u2019re like, \u2018I\u2019m just going to use the hose, because this is a pain.\u2019\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To get good use from your collection system, you may want to incorporate a small pump or elevate your barrels in order to increase your potential water pressure.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe recommend a 2-foot elevation on the barrel,\u201d Meier says. \u201cThat will give a little bit of water pressure, but it\u2019ll also make that water higher, so that it can flow better to the spots you\u2019re trying to water.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Still, don\u2019t expect to use just any standard drip irrigation hose with this setup. \u201cMost drip irrigation needs at least 20 psi, and you\u2019re not going to get that from a lot of smaller rain tanks,\u201d Capehart says. \u201cBut there are things that you can use that are very low psi like certain irrigating tapes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some rainwater collection equipment suppliers also sell low-pressure emitters to be used with gravity-<\/span>fed rain barrels.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Incorporating a drip system is a much more efficient use of water. \u201cYou will extend the duration that you can use your rain barrel, and, because [the drip system] waters slowly, the roots of the plants have a longer time to absorb moisture,\u201d Meier says.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If you do choose to use a specialty drip hose or irrigating tape, watch for sediment build-up. \u201cDrip hoses can clog pretty easily, if you are not careful about water quality,\u201d Sojka says.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Keep It Clean\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Your rainwater quality partly depends on the degree to which you maintain your catchment system. \u201cRain is pretty clean \u2014 especially if you do some prefiltration before it hits the tank,\u201d Capehart says. At minimum, that means keeping roof gutters clean and free of leaves, sticks and other debris.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If possible, you should also keep your tank in the shade. This will help to reduce or eliminate algae growth in your rainwater storage containers. (And, in the case of plastic catchment systems, the less exposure to plastic-degrading UV rays, the better.)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Rainwater collection systems should also be mosquito-tight. \u201cMake sure that you have sealed the openings with netting to prevent mosquito breeding,\u201d Sojka says. \u201cAll of these are things that people need to think about, and they are not particularly hard. But it is a little more than just cutting off a gutter and dumping it into a barrel.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Once you have your system dialed in, rain harvesting can be downright fun. \u201cA really cool byproduct of rain harvesting is how you stay in closer contact with the seasons, the rainfall and the cycles of rain,\u201d Capehart admits. \u201cThat does make it very exciting when it rains. And it is really high-quality water.\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

This article originally appeared in the July\/August 2021 issue of\u00a0<\/i>Hobby Farms\u00a0magazine.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Save money and give your plants the best with a rainwater collection system. Not sure where to start? Here are some tips for starting out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":89630,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[58,426,10458,428,43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-89627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crops-gardening","category-equipment","category-farm-garden","category-homesteading","category-urban-farming"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow To Get Started With Rainwater Collection - Hobby Farms<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Save money and give your plants the best with a rainwater collection system. Not sure where to start? 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