Using Rain Water in the Garden

[Benign Vanilla]

I am planning on building, and have SO approval to build a rain collection
system to harness the roof of my shed and the roof of the house. My plans
are currently not very fully formed, so I was looking for opinions from
anyone that has done this.

--
BV.
www.iheartmypond.com

[[email protected]]

birds sit on roofs and crap. rain water will bring all the parasites in the crap
down into the pond. use the rain water to water plants instead .. especially orchids
that like a very dilute fertilizer. Ingrid

"Benign Vanilla" > wrote:
>I am planning on building, and have SO approval to build a rain collection
>system to harness the roof of my shed and the roof of the house. My plans
>are currently not very fully formed, so I was looking for opinions from
>anyone that has done this.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

[[email protected]]

birds sit on roofs and crap. rain water will bring all the parasites in the crap
down into the pond. use the rain water to water plants instead .. especially orchids
that like a very dilute fertilizer. Ingrid

"Benign Vanilla" > wrote:
>I am planning on building, and have SO approval to build a rain collection
>system to harness the roof of my shed and the roof of the house. My plans
>are currently not very fully formed, so I was looking for opinions from
>anyone that has done this.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

[Pond Diver]

Funny... where I live, they sit on the power lines over my car and crap.
I'm glad elephants don't fly.


> wrote in message
...
> birds sit on roofs and crap. rain water will bring all the parasites in
the crap
> down into the pond. use the rain water to water plants instead ..
especially orchids
> that like a very dilute fertilizer. Ingrid
>
> "Benign Vanilla" > wrote:
> >I am planning on building, and have SO approval to build a rain
collection
> >system to harness the roof of my shed and the roof of the house. My plans
> >are currently not very fully formed, so I was looking for opinions from
> >anyone that has done this.
>
>
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
> http://puregold.aquaria.net/
> www.drsolo.com
> Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
> compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
> endorsements or recommendations I make.

[Pond Diver]

Funny... where I live, they sit on the power lines over my car and crap.
I'm glad elephants don't fly.


> wrote in message
...
> birds sit on roofs and crap. rain water will bring all the parasites in
the crap
> down into the pond. use the rain water to water plants instead ..
especially orchids
> that like a very dilute fertilizer. Ingrid
>
> "Benign Vanilla" > wrote:
> >I am planning on building, and have SO approval to build a rain
collection
> >system to harness the roof of my shed and the roof of the house. My plans
> >are currently not very fully formed, so I was looking for opinions from
> >anyone that has done this.
>
>
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
> http://puregold.aquaria.net/
> www.drsolo.com
> Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
> compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
> endorsements or recommendations I make.

[Benign Vanilla]

> wrote in message
...
> birds sit on roofs and crap. rain water will bring all the parasites in
the crap
> down into the pond. use the rain water to water plants instead ..
especially orchids
> that like a very dilute fertilizer. Ingrid
<snip>

My first phase plan is to create a system to water the herb garden, and then
a second to water the vegetable garden. I have put together a spreadsheet to
calculate potential gathering capability, and can see this being a great
source of water. I've even found some pages for people that use it for their
house water. I don't want to go that far, but if these numbers are right,
it'd be a great source of water for the garden and the pond.

--
BV.
www.iheartmypond.com

[Benign Vanilla]

> wrote in message
...
> birds sit on roofs and crap. rain water will bring all the parasites in
the crap
> down into the pond. use the rain water to water plants instead ..
especially orchids
> that like a very dilute fertilizer. Ingrid
<snip>

My first phase plan is to create a system to water the herb garden, and then
a second to water the vegetable garden. I have put together a spreadsheet to
calculate potential gathering capability, and can see this being a great
source of water. I've even found some pages for people that use it for their
house water. I don't want to go that far, but if these numbers are right,
it'd be a great source of water for the garden and the pond.

--
BV.
www.iheartmypond.com

[Cuvapu]

"Benign Vanilla" > wrote in
:

> My first phase plan is to create a system to water the herb garden,
> and then a second to water the vegetable garden. I have put together a
> spreadsheet to calculate potential gathering capability, and can see
> this being a great source of water. I've even found some pages for
> people that use it for their house water. I don't want to go that far,
> but if these numbers are right, it'd be a great source of water for
> the garden and the pond.
>

There's a Yahoo group that might be helpful to you:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rainwater/

Hope this helps,

Cuv

[Cuvapu]

"Benign Vanilla" > wrote in
:

> My first phase plan is to create a system to water the herb garden,
> and then a second to water the vegetable garden. I have put together a
> spreadsheet to calculate potential gathering capability, and can see
> this being a great source of water. I've even found some pages for
> people that use it for their house water. I don't want to go that far,
> but if these numbers are right, it'd be a great source of water for
> the garden and the pond.
>

There's a Yahoo group that might be helpful to you:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rainwater/

Hope this helps,

Cuv

[Benign Vanilla]

"Cuvapu" > wrote in message
...
> "Benign Vanilla" > wrote in
> :
>
> > My first phase plan is to create a system to water the herb garden,
> > and then a second to water the vegetable garden. I have put together a
> > spreadsheet to calculate potential gathering capability, and can see
> > this being a great source of water. I've even found some pages for
> > people that use it for their house water. I don't want to go that far,
> > but if these numbers are right, it'd be a great source of water for
> > the garden and the pond.
> >
>
> There's a Yahoo group that might be helpful to you:
>
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rainwater/
>
Thanks.

--
BV.
www.iheartmypond.com

[Benign Vanilla]

"Cuvapu" > wrote in message
...
> "Benign Vanilla" > wrote in
> :
>
> > My first phase plan is to create a system to water the herb garden,
> > and then a second to water the vegetable garden. I have put together a
> > spreadsheet to calculate potential gathering capability, and can see
> > this being a great source of water. I've even found some pages for
> > people that use it for their house water. I don't want to go that far,
> > but if these numbers are right, it'd be a great source of water for
> > the garden and the pond.
> >
>
> There's a Yahoo group that might be helpful to you:
>
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rainwater/
>
Thanks.

--
BV.
www.iheartmypond.com

[Sean Dinh]

In the old days, my family used rain water for cooking an drinking. Since we
were living in a tropical area, we had frequent rain storms. We divert all the
rain water away from the holding tank during the 1st 30 mins of heavy rain. We
didn't want to drink craps.

Here in SoCal, with the tar emulsion roof on our house, it's not safe to use
rain water for anything.

Benign Vanilla wrote:

> My first phase plan is to create a system to water the herb garden, and then
> a second to water the vegetable garden. I have put together a spreadsheet to
> calculate potential gathering capability, and can see this being a great
> source of water. I've even found some pages for people that use it for their
> house water. I don't want to go that far, but if these numbers are right,
> it'd be a great source of water for the garden and the pond.

[Sean Dinh]

In the old days, my family used rain water for cooking an drinking. Since we
were living in a tropical area, we had frequent rain storms. We divert all the
rain water away from the holding tank during the 1st 30 mins of heavy rain. We
didn't want to drink craps.

Here in SoCal, with the tar emulsion roof on our house, it's not safe to use
rain water for anything.

Benign Vanilla wrote:

> My first phase plan is to create a system to water the herb garden, and then
> a second to water the vegetable garden. I have put together a spreadsheet to
> calculate potential gathering capability, and can see this being a great
> source of water. I've even found some pages for people that use it for their
> house water. I don't want to go that far, but if these numbers are right,
> it'd be a great source of water for the garden and the pond.

[grubber]

"Benign Vanilla" > wrote in message
...
>
> My first phase plan is to create a system to water the herb garden, and
then
> a second to water the vegetable garden. I have put together a spreadsheet
to
> calculate potential gathering capability, and can see this being a great
> source of water. I've even found some pages for people that use it for
their
> house water. I don't want to go that far, but if these numbers are right,
> it'd be a great source of water for the garden and the pond.
>
> --
> BV.
> www.iheartmypond.com
>
>
>

There's a good bit of rainwater collection in this area (central TX). My
parents had a whole house system put in when they built out in the country.
Their cistern is 20-30 ft across! In areas with regular rainfall, smaller
cisterns can be used because they are frequently refilled.

Basically, between your gutters and your main tank, you put a T into a small
tank that fills first. That way, all the dust and bird crap gets washed off
the roof and ends up in the first tank, then clean water flows to your main
tank. Drain the small tank after every rain.

If you don't have a metal roof, particles from the shingles get in the
water, so I wouldn't use it for ponds, but it will be fine for ornamental
plants. I'd be a little wary of using it on veggies and herbs, but it's
probably not too much of an issue.

[grubber]

"Benign Vanilla" > wrote in message
...
>
> My first phase plan is to create a system to water the herb garden, and
then
> a second to water the vegetable garden. I have put together a spreadsheet
to
> calculate potential gathering capability, and can see this being a great
> source of water. I've even found some pages for people that use it for
their
> house water. I don't want to go that far, but if these numbers are right,
> it'd be a great source of water for the garden and the pond.
>
> --
> BV.
> www.iheartmypond.com
>
>
>

There's a good bit of rainwater collection in this area (central TX). My
parents had a whole house system put in when they built out in the country.
Their cistern is 20-30 ft across! In areas with regular rainfall, smaller
cisterns can be used because they are frequently refilled.

Basically, between your gutters and your main tank, you put a T into a small
tank that fills first. That way, all the dust and bird crap gets washed off
the roof and ends up in the first tank, then clean water flows to your main
tank. Drain the small tank after every rain.

If you don't have a metal roof, particles from the shingles get in the
water, so I wouldn't use it for ponds, but it will be fine for ornamental
plants. I'd be a little wary of using it on veggies and herbs, but it's
probably not too much of an issue.

[Benign Vanilla]

"grubber" > wrote in message
...
> "Benign Vanilla" > wrote in message
> ...
> >
> > My first phase plan is to create a system to water the herb garden, and
> then
> > a second to water the vegetable garden. I have put together a
spreadsheet
> to
> > calculate potential gathering capability, and can see this being a great
> > source of water. I've even found some pages for people that use it for
> their
> > house water. I don't want to go that far, but if these numbers are
right,
> > it'd be a great source of water for the garden and the pond.
> >
> > --
> > BV.
> > www.iheartmypond.com
> >
> >
> >
>
> There's a good bit of rainwater collection in this area (central TX). My
> parents had a whole house system put in when they built out in the
country.
> Their cistern is 20-30 ft across! In areas with regular rainfall, smaller
> cisterns can be used because they are frequently refilled.
>
> Basically, between your gutters and your main tank, you put a T into a
small
> tank that fills first. That way, all the dust and bird crap gets washed
off
> the roof and ends up in the first tank, then clean water flows to your
main
> tank. Drain the small tank after every rain.

I think you are refering to a roof scrubber, as I have read about. As we are
not using this water for drinking water, I don't think it is worth worrying
about. I am also not convinced that it would be necessary for pond water or
garden water.
<snip>

--
BV.
www.iheartmypond.com

[Benign Vanilla]

"grubber" > wrote in message
...
> "Benign Vanilla" > wrote in message
> ...
> >
> > My first phase plan is to create a system to water the herb garden, and
> then
> > a second to water the vegetable garden. I have put together a
spreadsheet
> to
> > calculate potential gathering capability, and can see this being a great
> > source of water. I've even found some pages for people that use it for
> their
> > house water. I don't want to go that far, but if these numbers are
right,
> > it'd be a great source of water for the garden and the pond.
> >
> > --
> > BV.
> > www.iheartmypond.com
> >
> >
> >
>
> There's a good bit of rainwater collection in this area (central TX). My
> parents had a whole house system put in when they built out in the
country.
> Their cistern is 20-30 ft across! In areas with regular rainfall, smaller
> cisterns can be used because they are frequently refilled.
>
> Basically, between your gutters and your main tank, you put a T into a
small
> tank that fills first. That way, all the dust and bird crap gets washed
off
> the roof and ends up in the first tank, then clean water flows to your
main
> tank. Drain the small tank after every rain.

I think you are refering to a roof scrubber, as I have read about. As we are
not using this water for drinking water, I don't think it is worth worrying
about. I am also not convinced that it would be necessary for pond water or
garden water.
<snip>

--
BV.
www.iheartmypond.com

[grubber]

"Benign Vanilla" > wrote in message
...
>

>
> I think you are refering to a roof scrubber, as I have read about. As we
are
> not using this water for drinking water, I don't think it is worth
worrying
> about. I am also not convinced that it would be necessary for pond water
or
> garden water.
> <snip>
>
> --
> BV.
> www.iheartmypond.com
>
>
>

You're going to wash a fresh supply of bacteria and organic matter into a
closed tank every rain. It'll smell loverly after a few days cooking when
it warms up. Also, you won't have a good bottom drain to rinse the
accumulated gunk out.

OTOH, if you're just filling a barrel or two which will be used quickly,
don't worry about it.

[grubber]

"Benign Vanilla" > wrote in message
...
>

>
> I think you are refering to a roof scrubber, as I have read about. As we
are
> not using this water for drinking water, I don't think it is worth
worrying
> about. I am also not convinced that it would be necessary for pond water
or
> garden water.
> <snip>
>
> --
> BV.
> www.iheartmypond.com
>
>
>

You're going to wash a fresh supply of bacteria and organic matter into a
closed tank every rain. It'll smell loverly after a few days cooking when
it warms up. Also, you won't have a good bottom drain to rinse the
accumulated gunk out.

OTOH, if you're just filling a barrel or two which will be used quickly,
don't worry about it.

[Gail Futoran]

"Benign Vanilla" > wrote in
message ...
> I am planning on building, and have SO approval to build a
rain collection
> system to harness the roof of my shed and the roof of the
house. My plans
> are currently not very fully formed, so I was looking for
opinions from
> anyone that has done this.
>
> --
> BV.
> www.iheartmypond.com
>

I have been able to find some 55 gallon plastic
drums used for coca-cola syrup that clean up
nicely, for about $20 at a local feed store. If it's
storage you're looking for, you might check
for such barrels. But my system is nothing
special, just catch rain in buckets from two
downspouts and store the water in a variety of
containers, including 33 gallon trash cans (bought
new for that purpose). I use the rainwater
mostly on roses, but will top off my ponds
using captured rainwater, alternating with treated
tap water. So far I haven't killed any fish,
but maybe I've been lucky.

One possibility is that, because my collection
"system" isn't automatic, by the time I get around
to emptying buckets, the roof has been "washed"
already quite a bit. I have rainwater in sealed
containers for over a year with no smell (although
I wouldn't drink it myself!).

Re collection systems: Do a google search on
"austin rainwater collection" and you'll get a
bunch of articles, some from retailers but you
can weed those out. As someone else posted,
rainwater collection is big in southcentral TX.

Gail
near San Antonio TX Zone 8

[Gail Futoran]

"Benign Vanilla" > wrote in
message ...
> I am planning on building, and have SO approval to build a
rain collection
> system to harness the roof of my shed and the roof of the
house. My plans
> are currently not very fully formed, so I was looking for
opinions from
> anyone that has done this.
>
> --
> BV.
> www.iheartmypond.com
>

I have been able to find some 55 gallon plastic
drums used for coca-cola syrup that clean up
nicely, for about $20 at a local feed store. If it's
storage you're looking for, you might check
for such barrels. But my system is nothing
special, just catch rain in buckets from two
downspouts and store the water in a variety of
containers, including 33 gallon trash cans (bought
new for that purpose). I use the rainwater
mostly on roses, but will top off my ponds
using captured rainwater, alternating with treated
tap water. So far I haven't killed any fish,
but maybe I've been lucky.

One possibility is that, because my collection
"system" isn't automatic, by the time I get around
to emptying buckets, the roof has been "washed"
already quite a bit. I have rainwater in sealed
containers for over a year with no smell (although
I wouldn't drink it myself!).

Re collection systems: Do a google search on
"austin rainwater collection" and you'll get a
bunch of articles, some from retailers but you
can weed those out. As someone else posted,
rainwater collection is big in southcentral TX.

Gail
near San Antonio TX Zone 8

[Benign Vanilla]

"grubber" > wrote in message
...
<snip>
> You're going to wash a fresh supply of bacteria and organic matter into a
> closed tank every rain. It'll smell loverly after a few days cooking when
> it warms up. Also, you won't have a good bottom drain to rinse the
> accumulated gunk out.
>
> OTOH, if you're just filling a barrel or two which will be used quickly,
> don't worry about it.

Basically my idea is this. My house is a big beige rectangle, or BBR for
short. The BBR has a simple two rectangle roof, STRR. I also have a deck out
back with completely unuseable space underneath, CUSU. So my thinking is,
take the water that runs off the STRR on the BBR, and channel it to barrels
stored in the CUSU, then use this water to irrigate my gardens when needed,
IMGWN.

I don't want to install a system for drinking water, as we don't get enough
rain, but I figured I could use this runoff in a better way.

--
BV.
www.iheartmypond.com

[Benign Vanilla]

"grubber" > wrote in message
...
<snip>
> You're going to wash a fresh supply of bacteria and organic matter into a
> closed tank every rain. It'll smell loverly after a few days cooking when
> it warms up. Also, you won't have a good bottom drain to rinse the
> accumulated gunk out.
>
> OTOH, if you're just filling a barrel or two which will be used quickly,
> don't worry about it.

Basically my idea is this. My house is a big beige rectangle, or BBR for
short. The BBR has a simple two rectangle roof, STRR. I also have a deck out
back with completely unuseable space underneath, CUSU. So my thinking is,
take the water that runs off the STRR on the BBR, and channel it to barrels
stored in the CUSU, then use this water to irrigate my gardens when needed,
IMGWN.

I don't want to install a system for drinking water, as we don't get enough
rain, but I figured I could use this runoff in a better way.

--
BV.
www.iheartmypond.com