The Secret to Harvesting Lots of Rainwater is……..
www.HarvestingMoreRainwater.com
Download Your FREE Report
Rainwater Harvesting in some parts of the world is still a new concept, especially in modern urban areas where householders are very used to just turning on the tap to water their garden or fill their swimming pools. I remember when growing up, “water” or “a lack of water” and “drought” were very rarely talked about. We had all the water we needed. I remember we used to use water for hosing down paths and driveways, we’d pour as much as we’d liked onto our lawns over summer and as kids we’d spray each other with the hose for hours.
And of course all of this water came from our local water storages. These water storages were always full of water, as every winter it rained and filled them up and then during the summer we’d use as much of it as we liked as the levels never really seemed to get low.
These days though it’s a different story. South Eastern Australia has now been in drought since 1997 and as a consequence most of the water storages, lakes, dams and reservoirs are now perilously low. This winter in 2009 we have received average rainfall which is the first time since 2000. Unfortunately all this has done is slow the decline of Melbourne’s water storages which are now at an all time low of 29%.
To fill these water storages with water again though is going to take a lot of rain over many years. Unfortunately this upcoming summer for South Eastern Australia is tipped to be hotter than normal. The likelihood of bushfires of the scale of Black Saturday during February this year are high this upcoming summer. Low rainfall is also forecast so the chance of ever getting enough rain to fill our storages again seems low .Unfortunately though Melbourne is not alone.
There are now many parts the USA, India, Africa, Europe and many other places that are also experiencing lower than average rainfall and low water levels in their storages.
As a gardener I’ve watched the climate change over the last 13 years and whether or not this cycle of dry weather continues is anyone’s guess. In the meantime though I’ve installed rainwater tanks so that I can still water my plants whenever I need to. I have a green lawn in my backyard and I can still wash my car or clean my paths whenever I want to. The most amazing thing though that I’ve discovered is that even in a climate where you only get around 300mm (12 inches) of rainfall per year I can still harvest lots of rainwater. It all has to do with how much of your roof you can harvest water from.
Underground rainwater tanks are very good at harvesting rainwater from all of your roof. Unfortunately though these are not always viable for some houses. They can be expensive to install and for houses that are already built they may not be viable. Above ground rainwater tanks are cheaper and easier to install but it can be difficult to harvest rainwater from all of your roof. You don’t really want to have to install a rainwater tank at the base of every downpipe or downspout on you house.
For the last three years now I’ve been harvesting rainwater for my garden and I’ve got the equivalent of three above ground rainwater tanks. Through some simple, inexpensive modifications I’ve made, those three rainwater tanks can now harvest rainwater from all of the 9 downpipes I have on my roof. That means I can now harvest rainwater from 100% of my roof area. That’s made a big difference.
Therefore my annual rainfall of just 300mm falling on my 250m2 (2,690 ft2) roof can deliver about 75,000 litres (19,800 US Gal) of rainwater to my tanks each year. That’s more than the amount of water the average Melbournian uses each year. The other great thing about this is that because you don’t get all of your rainfall at once you don’t need rainwater tanks that can store this much rainwater. My rainwater storage capacity is only about 20% of this amount so it was relatively inexpensive to install and set up and the water easily keeps my garden green during the summer.
The other important advantage of being able to harvest rainwater from all of your roof is that during summer when you’re not getting very much rain and you are using lots of water, you can really maximise the amount of rainwater you can harvest. That means that if you only get a little bit of rain you can still harvest lots of rainwater.
So if you would like to find out more about Rainwater Harvesting and how easy and simple it is to harvest rainwater from ALL of you roof area watch the video above and then click on the link for your free download.
