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If the rain water collection was merely a 55 gallon barrel and the city was banning this, then this is about greed. Once the 55 gallon barrel is full, the rest of the rain water will run off the roof to the soil and eventually cycle again. Collected rain water is then used for various purposes. For each gallon of rain water they use, that's less money the cities utilities will get from you.
I've heard about this happening in some states much like have a solar panel is illegal in some.
What gives the government the right to ban/ make these things illegal? Is this a growing trend?
Probably has more to do with your sewerage situation. You have a water meter and not a sewer meter, so if you are using rain water you are not paying your fair share of sewer bill. Not sure how to address that?
Yea, I don't get this either. Where I live, we can get a break on our Property Taxes by collecting water and making sure it DOESN'T run off our properties carrying trash, pollution and chemicals INTO our watershed.
Different rules and laws are needed for different areas of the country. Isn't that why we have local, state, and federal laws? The federal laws cannot work for all areas of the US. Some areas get too much water and don't know what to do with it. Other areas don't get enough and need every drop. Where I am now, I pay a monthly water bill, it is the same every month no matter how much I use. The reason is the infrastructure (and salaries of employees) make up 99% of the cost of getting me water. The water cost is 1% of my bill. The bill is higher if you have sewer, but it is still a flat rate. This is NOT the case everywhere in this state though.
If you are near the ocean, it is more expensive than being able to drill a shallow well, but desal plants can provide fresh water. Reverse Osmosis systems too. (RO water as I have seen it in areas with poor quality ground water) This is how I think we will avert a war because of water. Smaller, inexpensive to operate, water treatment plants are also being developed with some in service already... I'll find links if you want, but you can google yourself too. Of course NONE of this works if you have NOTHING to work with. Maybe instead of a keystone XL pipeline, those areas need a water pipeline from the states that are drowning?
Having said all that it is really a sad state we are in, when you can't even use the water that falls on you. Some of these restrictions are sounding very communistic.
Wow. Where I have a small shed/cabin on a lake that is adjacent to a creek in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, I am mandated by the county to collect any rainwater that comes off the building structure in rainwater barrels. In fact, I made sure to get two barrels to minimize the amount the would overflow and go back into the lake. There are no other structures on the property and nothing that would contaminate the water except the native vegetation, but them's the rules. I use the rainwater to keep my county-mandated plantings alive, lest they penalize me for not fulfilling my Best Management Practices agreement.
I will admit to being a bit perplexed by this thread and the talk of laws and taxes and legalities of collecting rain water. I found the answer. I am in the Seattle area. I see that folks are talking about SoCal and NM in their posts. We don't have much issue with water shortages here...our 2500 gallon tank is already 1/2 full since we installed it last weekend. I cannot imagine how it is in an area where water is such a commodity. I was confused because I kept seeing folks talk about the west and the Western Water Law. I'm in the west...as west as you can go without hitting salt water, but the water issues aren't something we worry about.
Step east 100 miles and things change completely. People who live in cities rarely know what is going on in the world. Even in Seattle, ground water has long since been contaminated by sewage, industrial chemicals and salt. You don't have as much water as you think you do. I also just saw that Mt. Baker only has 16% of normal snowpack and the Olympics only have 11% of normal snow pack, so you may find yourself faced with water restrictions this summer.
Literally unthinkable in the water rich eastern half of the country.
Yep, if we get hard rain I have a creek that forms in my side yard that will run or days. The drainage system in my basement will run for a week. Please come take it. There is one section in the woods if it doesn't rain for weeks you can dig down a few feet and the hole will fill with water almost immediately
Fresh water is the new oil. And in some places, it will become more expensive than oil, going forward.
Water already costs much more than oil if you buy bottled water.
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There are no other structures on the property and nothing that would contaminate the water except the native vegetation, but them's the rules. I use the rainwater to keep my county-mandated plantings alive, lest they penalize me for not fulfilling my Best Management Practices agreement.
There is one section in the woods if it doesn't rain for weeks you can dig down a few feet and the hole will fill with water almost immediately
