We had our backyard dug up to install a 2,500 gallon RainXchange cistern to store collected rainwater in. When one of our landscape designers came by today to check on the progress of our large project, we are also having our driveway, patios and entryway redone in paving stones, she said how when she saw the hole in our backyard she began to think about converting her own swimming pool into a large rainwater cistern. I was so excited to hear that what we were doing in our own yard got someone else excited about doing something similar in their own yard, especially one of the landscapers who is responsible for helping us achieve our own vision for our project.
Our RainXchange and paving stone project is nearing completion and we are very excited about it. It is so beautiful and relaxing to have a waterfall and pond in our backyard. The sound of the waterfall really does help filter out the sound from the highway a few blocks from our house. It is also very relaxing and the sound of the waterfall just lulls us to sleep now. It is so much better than we even expected going into this and it's not even done. It just keeps getting better and better looking. We will have a truly amazing yard when all of the work is finally done.
Showing posts with label rain harvesting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rain harvesting. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Busy days
It has been very crazy around our house lately. We are getting ready to undergo a major project in our yard. We are getting a 2,500 gallon rainwater storage tank buried in our backyard. We are getting a waterfall and pond put in our backyard. And we are getting our driveway, patio and walkway redone in paving stones. That is the short explanation of all the work.
In order to make way for the expanded backyard patio (which will have gardening areas built in along the edges) we needed to move some of the plants that were back there that we wanted to keep. We also had to move some of the plants in the front yard that we wanted to keep in order to make space for the new walkway to the front door and the new patio area in front of the house.
We also had to get rain gutters installed on the house in the areas that correspond to the intake areas for the rainwater storage tank. We are also having a trench put in under the driveway to catch any water that runs down the driveway, even with the paving stones due to the grade of our driveway we are expected to water make it down the driveway (especially in heavy rains).
We have also been busy going back and forth with the designers to make sure everything is going to work together properly. We had them go back last week and maximize the size of our storage tank for the rain water. They also added to the design for the backyard irrigation to be fed off of the rainwater when it is available, three separate types of irrigation for the backyard (one for our citrus trees, one for our garden and one for the small grass area we are keeping back there).
We are really looking forward to this very large project being completed. Of course at that point we still need to plant things in the yard and have a fence installed in the front yard, but we are certainly getting there.
In order to make way for the expanded backyard patio (which will have gardening areas built in along the edges) we needed to move some of the plants that were back there that we wanted to keep. We also had to move some of the plants in the front yard that we wanted to keep in order to make space for the new walkway to the front door and the new patio area in front of the house.
We also had to get rain gutters installed on the house in the areas that correspond to the intake areas for the rainwater storage tank. We are also having a trench put in under the driveway to catch any water that runs down the driveway, even with the paving stones due to the grade of our driveway we are expected to water make it down the driveway (especially in heavy rains).
We have also been busy going back and forth with the designers to make sure everything is going to work together properly. We had them go back last week and maximize the size of our storage tank for the rain water. They also added to the design for the backyard irrigation to be fed off of the rainwater when it is available, three separate types of irrigation for the backyard (one for our citrus trees, one for our garden and one for the small grass area we are keeping back there).
We are really looking forward to this very large project being completed. Of course at that point we still need to plant things in the yard and have a fence installed in the front yard, but we are certainly getting there.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Rainwater Collection
As we have begun to get our rains I am once again giving thought to what the best way to collect some of that FREE water and store it for use in watering our landscape and even washing the car is. The options are seemingly endless if you have the space to dedicate to storing the water, but we don't have a huge yard and I'm not so sure I want to tear it up to bury tanks or give up otherwise usable space to store above ground tanks. I am looking at a few storage options that would fit along the side of our house where we have a rather long walkway that is about 4 feet wide.
Of course before I can decide on a system I first need to determine just how much water I will be able to harvest from our roof. I was rather surprised to find that our area gets about 22 inches of rainfall annually, part of the shock for me was due to the fact that almost all of our rain is in the winter months. That is a fair bit of rain to receive over a short period of time in an area that is so dry that the water generally just runs right off the yard without really soaking in during rains or even a good watering.
Anyhow, for those of you interested in storing water in a fairly tight space two options in collection tanks I have found are the Waterwall Fatboy and the Rainwater Hog. Both are modular (you can connect multiple tanks together). The Rainwater Hog is the narrower of the two at only 20” wide x 9.5” deep x 71” tall but it only holds 50 gallons per tank and a cost of about $400 per tank (accessories are extra). The Waterwall Fatboy is the largest I have found holding 650 gallons per tank and measuring in at 7'6" long x 6’7" high x 2'4" deep at a cost of about $1200 per tank (accessories are extra).
I did also find a 214 gallon rainwater collection system that measures 69" long X 22" deep X 45" high. I didn't however see an option to add additional tank(s) to this system. The complete rainwater collection system is currently selling for about $1200.
Of course smaller rain barrels (about 55 gallons) could also fit along the wall, but I could only fit so many of them before I run out of space. And unlike the Rainwater Hog traditional rain barrels have a larger footprint and also aren't designed to allow stacking. I guess once I calculate out how much water can be harvested from the roof I will know just how much water I would need room to store, but until then I can think about all the great options out there for collecting and storing such a precious resource as water.
Of course before I can decide on a system I first need to determine just how much water I will be able to harvest from our roof. I was rather surprised to find that our area gets about 22 inches of rainfall annually, part of the shock for me was due to the fact that almost all of our rain is in the winter months. That is a fair bit of rain to receive over a short period of time in an area that is so dry that the water generally just runs right off the yard without really soaking in during rains or even a good watering.
Anyhow, for those of you interested in storing water in a fairly tight space two options in collection tanks I have found are the Waterwall Fatboy and the Rainwater Hog. Both are modular (you can connect multiple tanks together). The Rainwater Hog is the narrower of the two at only 20” wide x 9.5” deep x 71” tall but it only holds 50 gallons per tank and a cost of about $400 per tank (accessories are extra). The Waterwall Fatboy is the largest I have found holding 650 gallons per tank and measuring in at 7'6" long x 6’7" high x 2'4" deep at a cost of about $1200 per tank (accessories are extra).I did also find a 214 gallon rainwater collection system that measures 69" long X 22" deep X 45" high. I didn't however see an option to add additional tank(s) to this system. The complete rainwater collection system is currently selling for about $1200.
Of course smaller rain barrels (about 55 gallons) could also fit along the wall, but I could only fit so many of them before I run out of space. And unlike the Rainwater Hog traditional rain barrels have a larger footprint and also aren't designed to allow stacking. I guess once I calculate out how much water can be harvested from the roof I will know just how much water I would need room to store, but until then I can think about all the great options out there for collecting and storing such a precious resource as water.
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