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Harvesting Rainwater

The most likely results of lack of planning for your water runoff are erosion or flooding.  By using a few simple techniques, harvesting rainwater will allow you to keep the storm water on your property, to soak in and around your vegetation.  This page will describe some of the easy ways you can control the water that falls onto your property.  Here are a few of the benefits you will enjoy by paying more attention to your water runoff:

• Reduce your outdoor watering bills and your dependence on city, or well, water.
• Keep all your plants, garden and lawn healthier using rainwater instead of tap water.
• If you ever have water restrictions this is even more important.
• Reduce erosion.
• Enjoy more useful landscaping at no additional cost.

The first step to controlling your water flow, and harvesting the rainwater for immediate use, is closely examining your property during a good rainstorm.  You need to determine where all of those drops of valuable water go.  Do they flow off the roof, down the lawn, into the street and onward to the nearest storm drain.  If that is your situation, why not keep some of that water on your property and put it to good use?

Your goal in harvesting rainwater is to keep as much of it on your property as possible.  There are many different types of containers being used to capture rainwater, and many different ways to get the water into these containers.  The use of containers is a part of complex water harvesting.  This page will be devoted to making immediate use of the rainwater for watering and deep soaking of your lawn and garden.

Ground cover is a good basic start to harvesting rainwater.  Unprotected soil usually becomes compacted and will not absorb water, instead the water runs off taking the soil with it.  Ground cover achieves several different objectives:

• It makes the soil more porous, allowing it to hold more water.
• It shades the soil reducing evaporation and protects it from the wind.
• It protects the soil from compaction, resulting in excessive water runoff.
• It slows the movement of water, allowing it to soak into the ground instead of running off.

By choosing locally used ground cover, especially drought-tolerant types, more water can be conserved than what is needed to keep the cover green.

A swale is a landscapers favorite tool to control rainwater.  These are level or gently sloping trenches that collect, slow down or diverts water runoff.  Swales vary greatly in size and application.  They can be as simple as the trenches in a garden or stretched across many acres of a sloping field.  Swales will normally be used running perpendicular to the way the water normally flows.  On a shallow slope a swale can be little more than a small excavation in the landscape.  When more slope is involved berms are used to retain more water in the swale.

Swales do not have to be in straight lines.  An eyebrow swale can be used on the downhill slope around trees and other vegetation, keeping more of the water within the drip edge of the plants.  This type of swale can also enhance the looks of your landscaping while serving a useful function.

Another option similar to a swale is a terrace.  Terraces can be used to effectively control water on steeply sloped lawns.  They have been used for hundreds of years and continue to be an option worth consideration for many rainwater harvesting landscapes.

Basins are another useful tool for harvesting your rainwater.  They can be used on flat ground and also on gently sloping yards.  Basins contain water and allow it to soak into the ground, right where the plants need it the most.  Basins should be designed with overflow water in mind, directing it in a useful direction.

Landscapers make use of French drains as a way of directing the flow of water, or allowing for more water infiltration.  They are rock filled trenches and are also known as soakaways or dry well.  A French drain will usually consist of gravel or stones even in size, filter fabric and several inches of soil, gravel or sand.

Another popular way a retaining more rainwater on your property is the use of permeable paving.  Gravel is a good example of this and can be used in place of pavement in many cases, and is less expensive.  Another permeable option are brick unit pavers.  these are attractive, come in many sizes and shapes and allow better water absorption than concrete.  Paving two paths for the car wheels is a driveway option that saves money and can be used for water retention.

Use some of these simple landscaping ideas to begin harvesting rainwater instead of watching it run on down the road.

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Pages related to Harvesting Rainwater

Water Harvesting : Complex Water Harvesting : Rainwater
Rainwater Harvesting