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I recently setup a rain barrel and was thinking why not "all new homes" have a built-in water tank on the sides. Basically a concrete 2 feet wide and matching the shape and size of the home.
As someone else replied, that "tank" would be exceedingly expensive.
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The rain water from the gutters can be filtered and directed to this tank and the once it is full overflow can be directly fed into the sewer. A winter plan to empty the tank and re-direct the water directly to the sewer from the gutters.
Bad idea, you don't want to add rainwater to the sewage treatment system, it is very expensive to treat sewage water. It would be much more economical to put in a few 100 gallon rainwater storage tanks and let the rest run onto the ground.
Why direct overflow to the sewers where it doesn't belong? That is very wasteful of a valuable commodity that is needed by all living things. Fresh rain water belongs on the ground and any overflow should be directed to the ground where other living things that need it will have access to it. To send it to sewers is not green living, it is the exact opposite.
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Good point! need to direct it to EVENLY to ground!
I worked in water quality and pollution control for over 30 years. I would never consider drinking rain water collected from a roof. I know there are diversion devices that divert the initial flow to disposal until the roof is "washed" off. That water may be clean enough for livestock but I still would not let them drink any. The reason is simple. Roof water is contaminated by bird and bat shi* and can carry very dangerous organisms.
I would use collected water for anything but drinking. Rain water is great for cleaning stuff, watering gardens and , maybe, swamp coolers. Umm, maybe not the swamp coolers until chlorine sterilized.
Rain gardens are something I've come across twice recently. They hold rainwater in a depression and the native plants you plant like the moisture and can sit in it and take it up over time and the roots of natives are good against erosion - like the kind that leads to mudslides, etc. It can keep a pretty good amount of water out of the sewer system and take up some yard that won't need mowing and water-hungry grass and they can be drop dead gorgeous. In a more urban setting, you can do a better catchment for street trees than the ones in use now with some of the same principles.
I worked in water quality and pollution control ......
Can you enlighten us on the effectiveness and value of purifying water-- rain run-off or sewage- by running it thru vegetation? I've heard of small municipalities that use water hyacinth for this purpose. I can see how it could help with the biological elements, but how about chemical contaminants?
In Bermuda rain water is a primary source. The law requires that you scrub your roof I believe it is once a year. It is a 27 mile long island in mid-ocean, potable water is important there.
I want to know how a low volume flush toilet here in WI (35 in of precip/yr and sitting in the watershed of the Great lakes, 20% of the world's fresh water supply) helps the water shortage problem in S. CA, 2000 miles away? Is the supply of fresh water in S. CA too small for the population, or too many people for the water supply?
The answer is red meat and China. It takes over 400 gallons of water to create a (commercial) quarter pound of beef. Much of California's water is used in satisfying both The United States' and China's appetite for beef. Parts of China have a worse water crisis than California and actually buy some of it's water from them.
Please note, I'm not a vegan or PETA member, I'm just stating the facts.
The answer is red meat and China. It takes over 400 gallons of water to create a (commercial) quarter pound of beef. Much of California's water is used in satisfying both The United States' and China's appetite for beef. Parts of China have a worse water crisis than California and actually buy some of it's water from them.
Please note, I'm not a vegan or PETA member, I'm just stating the facts.
Oh, Crap. Another innocent person taken in by the excessive water use claim in regards to meat. Look at those claims with an objective eye. I can just as easily claim that most reserves of water in California are "used" by recreational boating and the skiing industry. Boaters leave oil films and pollutants on water. Skiers pack down snow and contribute to global warming by putting carbon black emissions close to high albedo fresh snow. The only relation 400 gallons water use in a quarter-pounder has to meat is that it is bullsh*t.
Keep a dish pan in your sink and empty it into a bucket. When the bucket is 3/4 full, empty it in the yard on whatever needs watering. A plus to this is that once you see how much water you have been letting go down the drain, you will use less.
When I could still get in and out of the tub and liked a deep bath, I used the bathwater afterward to flush the toilet.
I wish I had a rain barrel. I use the long black corrugated plastic tubing to carry gutter water away from my house. I can move it around. Its ugly but cheap and functional.
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