Comments on: Rainwater Collection Ideas

By: CJ Wolfe

CJ Wolfe — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 19:51:46 +0000

I live in dry, semi-arid Eastern Colorado. Recently, the water laws in Colorado have been changed to reflect the reality that many people in rural areas deal with: we are on wells, rather than a municipal water delivery system. In the case of people who subsist on well-water and cannot be served by municipal water, we ARE allowed to collect rainwater in barrels for personal use. The amount of water we collect is minimal in comparison to the water collected by municipalities like Denver, Colorado Springs and Fort Collins (where the populace uses water leased from farmers, deep wells and the many reservoirs built over the last 100 years). In addition, studies showed that the water that lands on our roofs (rather than the roof of the average city-dweller)never makes it to a river or an aquifer. Rather, it is absorbed by plants. I have several rain barrels attached to our downspouts and collect as much rain as I can for our vegetable garden, rather than exclusively use the hard, mineral and salt-laden water from our well. Since I garden in raised beds (thanks the the hard-packed clay soil out here), using rainwater is preferrable, since it keeps the salts the well-water contains out of the soil in the beds, or at least those salts don’t accumulate as quickly as they would if I used well-water exclusively. And don’t get me started on our convoluted, idiotic water laws and the draconian way in which they are enforced. The one way to truly anger a Coloradoan (particularly one that lives in an agricultural area affected by the current drought) is to show them pictures of swimming pools and lush green golf courses in the Arizona desert.

By: Brandee Ogzewalla

Brandee Ogzewalla — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 07:27:55 +0000

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By: Plutus Awards Nomination- Best Retirement Blog! « Cradle of Hope Adoption Center Today

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 05:41:52 +0000

[...] Little House presents Rain Water Collection Ideas [...]

By: Little House

Little House — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 23:20:08 +0000

@Leslie – thanks for mentioning that some countries require this. I know that some islands, such as Bermuda, do as well. I can see where catching them in cisterns would make sense.

By: Leslie

Leslie — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 20:39:15 +0000

I always find ideas like this interesting considering I have been doing this all my life. I am from a developing country and we are required by building code to have catchment systems for water storage. At a time when we are experiencing drought and public water supply is under strict schedule, this stored water comes in handy. Of course this means that the catchment is required to be a cisten or metal/plastic storage container able to hold thousands of gallons. We do have natural springs, but reply heavy on simple rainfall.

By: cna training

cna training — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 13:37:43 +0000

Keep posting stuff like this i really like it

By: Little House in the Valley

Little House in the Valley — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 13:04:16 +0000

[...] Geek: Thanks for including my Rainwater Collection Ideas [...]

By: Plutus Awards Nomination- Best Retirement Blog!

Plutus Awards Nomination- Best Retirement Blog! — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 21:56:04 +0000

[...] Little House presents Rain Water Collection Ideas [...]

By: Weekend Wrap-up: Yakezie Virgin Edition @ Beating Broke

Weekend Wrap-up: Yakezie Virgin Edition @ Beating Broke — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 14:40:28 +0000

[...] Rainwater Collection Ideas, from Little House in the Valley [...]

By: Friday Round-Up - Longing to be Free Edition

Friday Round-Up - Longing to be Free Edition — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 21:29:28 +0000

[...] Little House presents Rain Water Collection Ideas [...]