rain barrels

It seems cities are slowly coming around to the idea of rain barrels and rain storage. Last night we attended a meeting to discuss the benefits of rain water capture. It is simply amazing how little people know about it. You would think that individuals living in a near desert would be aware of the value of water. But that turns out not to be true. Very likely it is because water is so cheap. You turn on the faucet and let it run. You take long showers and flush toilets, all blissfully unaware of how unsustainable these habits really are.

It is not just a matter of being unsustainable --although that should really be a top priority. But people do not care much about the future as long as that future is not immediate. They always think, we are too busy, and besides we will fix all our problems in due time. They have been told over and over again about the American spirit and how it will overcome all ills -until such time of course when the ills are too big to overcome.

But we need to think about the immediate effects. The flooding, the mudslides, and the 1 trillion gallons of sewage overflow every year. These things are real, and they can be helped by simply collecting rain water and releasing it later. Even if we did nothing else but collect the water on our roofs and then release it the next day -which would be a bit stupid given all the good uses for rain water- we would save millions of dollars.

In Europe, where it rains a lot, people collect rain water. Many use it to water their lawns, or vegetable gardens in the brief dry spells that occur during the year. But many more use it to flush toilets, do laundry and even take showers. You may shudder at this idea, because you probably think rain water is dirty. You may think that having it fall onto the earth and seep through many layers cleans it up. Isn't that what the commercials for alpine water tell you? Think again.

Rain water is very pure. It does acquire some stuff while on the roof and in the gutters, but the damage done there is rather minimal. Especially once the storm has picked up some steam. The flow is so large that it quickly cleans the surfaces. And whatever dirt is picked up will quickly settle in a large storage tank. The real problem with rain water -if you were to consider using it to drink- is storage. That is where the contamination happens.

However, it is not something to worry about. This type of contamination is not only easy to remove, it also does not matter much for most uses. Much of our daily water use does not require ultra-clean water. Most water is flushed down the toilet. You don't need ultra-pure water to flush your toilets. Nor do you need it to do the laundry. You don't even need it for showers.

But the main problem is not here. It lies in making rain water storage and use easy. As easy as turning on a faucet. Because people are lazy. They want things automatic. And making rain water use automatic is trivial when you are building a house. Unfortunately, most homes are built without such provisions so that leaves retrofitting. Retrofitting however, is expensive and it is not something people will do without incentives. They would rather vote for a desalination plant. That is easy.

So here is an idea for our government. Give out grants and create incentives to retrofit homes. Make water expensive too so people start thinking they need to start saving or do something about it. That would be a sign of leadership. Cancel that desalination plant. There is plenty of water running down the drain after every storm that hits California.

rain barrels

To my surprise I learned last night that the city of San Francisco is encouraging residents to buy rain barrels. We started our rain barrel "experiment" more than a year ago and it has saved us plenty. Our neighbors have been skeptical and many thought we were losing it, calling us modern day luddites. Fortunately there is no home owners association to stop us from doing the right thing. Rain barrels are not only the right thing to do, they are the smart thing to do.

Even in California, where a long dry summer is the rule, rain barrels can be put to good use. They fill very quickly during our regular rain storms and can provide us with all the water we need for at least six months out of the year. We use the water for everything except drinking. That has reduced our consumption of municipal water to below 50 gallons per day for a family of four. Using the water to drink is possible but it takes a rather expensive setup and constant monitoring. That, I believe is asking a lot and we are nowhere near needing to go there.

Apart from saving water, which is scarce today and projected to grow even scarcer over the next decade, rain barrels can also help with mud slides and overflowing storm drains. Much of the water in urban and suburban areas falls on roofs. Much of it falls within a very short period of time as California storms tend to be very intense. All of that translates in to torrential flows that can cause a lot of damage. Ironically enough residents here seem to believe that damage is inevitable and part of the deal. It shouldn't be.

Storm drains are a major expense for cities and tax payers. Much of your local tax money goes towards storm drains. Building them, maintaining them, and cleaning them. Every year many city crew work weeks go into cleaning drains that easily clog with dirt, dust, leaves, and debris.

If citizens did nothing but capture the water from their roofs during a storm and then release it slowly (and preferably over their vegetation) we could save tens of thousands of dollars in storm drain maintenance. We could prevent many of the feared mud slides that destroy homes and that nobody can insure against. We could prevent flooding that causes further havoc and destruction.

All of that can be done by simply cutting your downspouts and directing the flow into 55-65 gallon drums. A screen cover takes care of mosquito breeding. If you have a big roof, you may need a few drums in series, as one minor storm will easily fill all those drums in less than one hour.

The more uses you can find for the water the better. Easiest is to irrigate the yard (or your lawn). Next comes toilet flushing, which is a major environmental disaster and very easy to fix. However, people may not like the idea of doing so with buckets. It is trivial to install a small alternate flow head that fills the tank automatically, but it takes some expense and creativity. You need to build a parallel system that can use rain water and regular water. Also very easy is to fill the washing machine with a bucket (esp. top loaders that wastes water galore).

Rain water is very clean. It does not contain harmful chemicals and it is quite soft too. Once the roof is "washed clean" after the first storm of the season, the remaining water is some of the highest quality water you can get (if used immediately). If you plan to store water for more than a few days, you will need to take precautions to prevent bacterial growth. But that only matters if you plan to drink the water. For all other uses, only mosquito abatement is a concern. That is handled with a screen cover. If in doubt,  you can add some special mosquito tablets from the hardware store.

Time to get your rain barrels America.