Larger tanks are also very unwieldy to install and are an eyesore in the landscape. Most tanks cost roughly 50 cents per gallon of storage, though the larger sizes are often much pricier. Rainwater is typically stored in polyethylene (plastic) tanks, which can be purchased at farm supply stores or shipped from online suppliers like The Tank Depot and Plastic-Mart. The size of your rainwater catchment system may ultimately depend on your budget and how much space you are willing to dedicate to it. So you can see why it makes sense to focus on how much you can actually collect from your roof in such climates, rather than how much you can use. In arid regions like Los Angeles or Phoenix, where eight months can pass between major rainstorms, the equation looks like this (30 X 30) X 32 X. If you have a modest 30′ by 30′ yard and want to have enough water to irrigate for a month-long dry spell (light rain doesn’t count-at least one inch of precipitation is needed to saturate the soil in dry conditions), which is not uncommon in most of the country (except in the Southwest and on the West Coast, where dry spells last many months), that’s (30 X 30) X 4 X. Irrigation needs vary considerably depending on climate, shade, soil type, and vegetation type, but this equation will give you a rough idea of your garden’s water demand:Īrea to be irrigated (in square feet) X maximum number of weeks between major summer rainstorms X. But if you live an area that typically gets rainfall throughout the warm parts of the year (plants rarely need irrigation in the winter), how much water you can catch in a year is not as relevant as how much you’ll need during a summer dry spell. In a very dry climate where most of the rain falls in winter, as is the case along most of the West Coast, you could easily use that much irrigation water in spring, summer, and fall-and much more, depending on the size of your garden. Here’s a handy web tool to find out how much rainfall you get in your area each year. If you lived in a modest 20′ by 30′ house (measure roof size as the length times the width of the house) in a modestly wet region with 40 inches of annual rainfall, that’s (20 X 30) X 40 X. There are rain tank calculators online so you don’t have to do the math, but here is an example. ![]() Roof size (in square feet) X annual rainfall (in inches) X. To give you an idea of how much water you have at your disposal for irrigation, here is a simple equation for figuring out how many gallons your roof sheds when it rains: Before you begin, make sure that rain harvesting is legal in your area. ![]() But if you’re planning a more ambitious project consider the following pointers before getting started. In that case, there’s not much to know-most come with instructions and all the hardware you need. If you live in a townhouse or apartment with a tiny yard, one of those store-bought barrels will probably do the trick. But setting up a functional rainwater irrigation system-beyond the ubiquitous 55-gallon barrels under the downspout, which won’t irrigate much more than a flower bed or two-is a fairly complicated DIY project. Collecting the water flowing down your downspouts in rainstorms so you can use it to irrigate in dry periods is often touted as a simple way to cut back. The average American household uses about 320 gallons of water per day, a third for irrigation and other outdoor uses.
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