Rain For A Sunny Day

Originally on GenGreen July 2009

Rain for a sunny day

It’s late spring, and this year there has been a lot of rain in my fair state of Colorado. Being in a high desert, with all this water coming at once, makes a lot of us want to save some of it for those hot, dry, sunny days. I am perhaps one of the lucky ones, as I installed a 1,500-gallon underground tank near my shop to catch the water that comes off its metal roof. Fifteen hundred gallons sounds like a lot of water, and it is. The tank is six feet high and seven feet in diameter. All this water is used for flushing our 1.6-gallon toilet, which is a lot easier than pumping and treating water just to have it go right down the drain again. “A thousand flushes” has a new ring to it. While I use rain for waste water now, a future garden and greenhouse is in the works. Even a 500 square foot roof is enough for two people.

Weather is unpredictable here and promises to be even more so in the coming years. A quick peek at the forecast of temperature changes shows that the Rocky Mountain region is headed for some hot, dry summers. It makes sense to do all we can with our homes to “future proof” them. Water catchment should be near the top of the list. And here are some reasons why:

The water is free
It keeps your landscape from being over-saturated and protects your foundation
It is clean and soft (low salts, high in nitrogen)
It can be used for multiple applications
It supplements our drinking water, which takes a lot of energy and infrastructure to get to your tap
You are using a local resource
1 inch of rain per 1000 horizontal square feet of roof amounts to 620 gallons

Here are a few things to think about if you are considering catching your rain water. If your roof has asphalt shingles, the water should not be used for edible crops. Keep gutters clean and use a water filtering device before the tank. If you want to use the water for more than just the warm seasons, your system must be well designed for the cold. The collection tank needs to be covered to keep critters and mosquitoes at bay and large enough to handle storm surges and longer dry spells. You may need a pump, valves, and a power source to make the water go where you want it. Check your local laws. In Colorado, for instance, it is slowly being legalized (don’t get me started).

The idea of “future proofing” a house is intriguing, so if you plan on building a new home, consider rain water catchment. Plumb a second line to your toilet, one for potable water and the other for rainwater. Roof your home with metal or tile so the water is kept clean. Be creative in your application of the water. Use it for your laundry-- cold water is just as effective for rinsing as hot, and check out those cold-water detergents, they save a lot of energy. Maybe the house should have hose bibs for rain water to wash your car and water the landscape or even water livestock. With a bit of research, this can pay off for you, your neighborhood and protect the 21st century’s most valuable resource.