LittleDingus
Omono
We're planning to move next year to be closer to grandkids 
This will likely be our retirement home so we're hoping to tick off as much of our "dream house" wish list as possible with this one! On that list is a rainwater collection system.
In our last house, I had a 250 gallon tank that I used to collect rain water. This house we have nothing because there's no place for such a thing that wouldn't be an "eye-sore" (we have an HOA). We're hoping for 1+ acres in a rural setting so should be able to do something nice in a potential new home.
I've recently bought a flow meter so I could measure current typical water usage. For my non-garden plants...trees, patio flowers, basically everything in a "pot" of some kind...my typical usage is ~40 gallons per day. 250 gallons won't last long at that rate! We'll be moving to northern Illinois so rain in the spring but less rain in the summer.
For reference: an average home footprint for the type of home we're likely to purchase is 2500 square feet. A 1" rainfall over that area is roughly 1500 gallons of water. I'm thinking of a system that can store >2000 gallons. That would give me roughly 50 days of water at my typical "container plants" rate...the reality would be much shorter because we both have a large garden on our wish list as well
One system I really like the looks of is modular and in-ground. The retention capacity is chosen by how many modules go into the retention basin.
It collects rain from downspouts and can be permeable above the collection basin to collect rain from that area as well. The system is modular so the area it covers can change. There are add-ons for water features (fountains, waterfalls, etc...) where the water is pumped from the basin and returns to the basin. In this picture:
the river stones allow the water from the fountain to seep through back into the basin to be re-circulated.
So this got me thinking: since the basin is sound enough to walk on/support weight, what if I built my container garden on top on it/sloped to drain into it? Would that be a problem? Mostly I'm concerned about fertilizers leaching out and increasing concentrations over time in the collection basin. But maybe there are other concerns? I'd likely switch to all organic fertilizers if there was a chance of the drain water being re-collected.
The drain water doesn't have to be recaptured. I was thinking it would be convenient while on vacations as I could set up a sprinkler from the house water so I wouldn't have to worry about the basic running dry and also not have to worry about how long the sprinkler ran for since I'd be collecting the run-off for re-use anyway.
Before anyone asks...this is not a money saving endeavor. Water is roughly $12 per 1000 gallons most places we're likely to live. Systems this size are NOT cheap! I could water for years and not pay off the system. This is a conservation activity...and possible storm water/flood management issue depending on where we end up.
Does anyone have any experience/thoughts on these types of systems? Does anyone see other things I should be thinking about/concerned with? Is anyone aware of other water retention systems that are worth looking into? At this point, I'm in a slow-burn research mode. We wouldn't be doing anything until next summer earliest...more likely the summer after by the time we buy a home, move and get situated, etc...
This will likely be our retirement home so we're hoping to tick off as much of our "dream house" wish list as possible with this one! On that list is a rainwater collection system.In our last house, I had a 250 gallon tank that I used to collect rain water. This house we have nothing because there's no place for such a thing that wouldn't be an "eye-sore" (we have an HOA). We're hoping for 1+ acres in a rural setting so should be able to do something nice in a potential new home.
I've recently bought a flow meter so I could measure current typical water usage. For my non-garden plants...trees, patio flowers, basically everything in a "pot" of some kind...my typical usage is ~40 gallons per day. 250 gallons won't last long at that rate! We'll be moving to northern Illinois so rain in the spring but less rain in the summer.
For reference: an average home footprint for the type of home we're likely to purchase is 2500 square feet. A 1" rainfall over that area is roughly 1500 gallons of water. I'm thinking of a system that can store >2000 gallons. That would give me roughly 50 days of water at my typical "container plants" rate...the reality would be much shorter because we both have a large garden on our wish list as well
One system I really like the looks of is modular and in-ground. The retention capacity is chosen by how many modules go into the retention basin.
It collects rain from downspouts and can be permeable above the collection basin to collect rain from that area as well. The system is modular so the area it covers can change. There are add-ons for water features (fountains, waterfalls, etc...) where the water is pumped from the basin and returns to the basin. In this picture:
the river stones allow the water from the fountain to seep through back into the basin to be re-circulated.
So this got me thinking: since the basin is sound enough to walk on/support weight, what if I built my container garden on top on it/sloped to drain into it? Would that be a problem? Mostly I'm concerned about fertilizers leaching out and increasing concentrations over time in the collection basin. But maybe there are other concerns? I'd likely switch to all organic fertilizers if there was a chance of the drain water being re-collected.
The drain water doesn't have to be recaptured. I was thinking it would be convenient while on vacations as I could set up a sprinkler from the house water so I wouldn't have to worry about the basic running dry and also not have to worry about how long the sprinkler ran for since I'd be collecting the run-off for re-use anyway.
Before anyone asks...this is not a money saving endeavor. Water is roughly $12 per 1000 gallons most places we're likely to live. Systems this size are NOT cheap! I could water for years and not pay off the system. This is a conservation activity...and possible storm water/flood management issue depending on where we end up.
Does anyone have any experience/thoughts on these types of systems? Does anyone see other things I should be thinking about/concerned with? Is anyone aware of other water retention systems that are worth looking into? At this point, I'm in a slow-burn research mode. We wouldn't be doing anything until next summer earliest...more likely the summer after by the time we buy a home, move and get situated, etc...
The regulations are mostly around not collecting for potable use and construction meeting local building codes...including those for French wells if stored under ground.
