Harvesting Rain Water
Fresh water, free of chlorine or other additives is foundational to a home ecosystem. If we analyze the core of an organic system to plant life and then further to dependence on the soil of plants, then we can better understand the life present within soil. Soil needs moisture because bacteria in the living soil need water.
I am an advocate for harvesting rain water as your first step in building a home ecosystem. A good example for this concerns composting and vermicomposting. Bacteria, fungi, and worms, as well as other organisms in the soil need moisture. One of the first steps in establishing a worm farm is to add moisture to the worm bedding in the habitat. Often, vendors of worm farms will provide coconut coir that you must add water to provide for the worms. Yet regardless of the type of bedding used, moisture is essential. This is also the case for backyard composting systems. Water is a prerequisite, and the source of the water matters.
The chlorine/sodium hypochlorite added to tap water is meant to kill harmful bacteria, however, as you can imagine, the chlorine is not capable of choosing which bacteria are harmful and which are beneficial. For humans, the amount of chlorine, typically four parts per million is not necessarily harmful, but for a very small cell organism such as bacteria, fungus, or protozoa, the chlorine could be stunting. The bottom line is tap water contains additives.
An alternative to adding chlorine to your compost, vermicompost, soil and plant life is to harvest rain water. Rain barrels or cisterns that allow you to capture runoff from your gutter downspouts will facilitate the use of moisture for your home ecosystem without concern for introducing chlorine. Other great benefits are reducing water consumption/saving $ and reducing runoff into storm water infrastructure. The rain water that runs off your roof may not be potable-many building materials will shed particles of toxins as the water drains. Water is a solvent-it will take on some properties of the materials.
I have multiple 50 gallon rain barrels and they fill very fast during rainfall-it is amazing how much water runs off a standard home. In the below picture, overflow cascades down the front side of the barrel to prevent water hitting the foundation of the house. This is the first phase of this project, I intend to have an overflow catchment system that will allow for use of the excess water, such as another basin or a rain garden. Most likely, I will form a rain garden that will allow plants to filter any toxins leached from the roof (I have a standard shingle roof, unfortunately). At some point your design will terminate with returning water to the earth.
Basic steps to start harvesting rain water:
-Site prep and analysis
-Construct or purchase a rain barrel
-Measure rain barrel along gutter and determine necessary clearance
-Saw off unneeded gutter with a hacksaw, making sure to preserve the elbow
-Attach elbow to gutter
-Emplace and level rain barrel
-If desired, place stone/rock below base of rain barrel to reduce erosion
-Place a screen over rain barrel intake/ensure mosquitoes will not congregate in standing pool
-After a rainfall, check rain barrel drainage and adjust as necessary
I am an advocate for harvesting rain water as your first step in building a home ecosystem. A good example for this concerns composting and vermicomposting. Bacteria, fungi, and worms, as well as other organisms in the soil need moisture. One of the first steps in establishing a worm farm is to add moisture to the worm bedding in the habitat. Often, vendors of worm farms will provide coconut coir that you must add water to provide for the worms. Yet regardless of the type of bedding used, moisture is essential. This is also the case for backyard composting systems. Water is a prerequisite, and the source of the water matters.
The chlorine/sodium hypochlorite added to tap water is meant to kill harmful bacteria, however, as you can imagine, the chlorine is not capable of choosing which bacteria are harmful and which are beneficial. For humans, the amount of chlorine, typically four parts per million is not necessarily harmful, but for a very small cell organism such as bacteria, fungus, or protozoa, the chlorine could be stunting. The bottom line is tap water contains additives.
An alternative to adding chlorine to your compost, vermicompost, soil and plant life is to harvest rain water. Rain barrels or cisterns that allow you to capture runoff from your gutter downspouts will facilitate the use of moisture for your home ecosystem without concern for introducing chlorine. Other great benefits are reducing water consumption/saving $ and reducing runoff into storm water infrastructure. The rain water that runs off your roof may not be potable-many building materials will shed particles of toxins as the water drains. Water is a solvent-it will take on some properties of the materials.
I have multiple 50 gallon rain barrels and they fill very fast during rainfall-it is amazing how much water runs off a standard home. In the below picture, overflow cascades down the front side of the barrel to prevent water hitting the foundation of the house. This is the first phase of this project, I intend to have an overflow catchment system that will allow for use of the excess water, such as another basin or a rain garden. Most likely, I will form a rain garden that will allow plants to filter any toxins leached from the roof (I have a standard shingle roof, unfortunately). At some point your design will terminate with returning water to the earth.
Basic steps to start harvesting rain water:
-Site prep and analysis
-Construct or purchase a rain barrel
-Measure rain barrel along gutter and determine necessary clearance
-Saw off unneeded gutter with a hacksaw, making sure to preserve the elbow
-Attach elbow to gutter
-Emplace and level rain barrel
-If desired, place stone/rock below base of rain barrel to reduce erosion
-Place a screen over rain barrel intake/ensure mosquitoes will not congregate in standing pool
-After a rainfall, check rain barrel drainage and adjust as necessary
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