Rainwater Harvesting QA - Cost, is it Illegal, how I treat, etc,.

Today I’m answering Rainwater Harvesting questions about my rainwater collection system tour video. Treatment and filtration, is rainwater harvesting illegal, system cost, what is the capacity, how long can we go between rains, what other forms of harvesting do we use, plans for the future, and more!
Thanks for watching and please let me know if you have any questions!!

Here is a legend if you want to skip to a particular question/answer…

Do we have a well? - 1:34
Why don’t we have one? -1:40
System capacity? – 2:09
Collection area sqft? -2:49
How many gallons per inch of rain? - 3:14
Do we treat for algae? - 3:24
How do we filter the water? – 4:05
Other ways we harvest rain? – 5:01
Why no “first flush” system? – 6:45
How do we clean the gutters? – 8:30
Isn’t rainwater acidic? – 8:52
What about bird poop? – 9:25
Have we had our water tested? – 9:50
Is rainwater harvesting illegal? – 10:03
How do we drain/flush the pipes? - 11:06
Did I do all the work myself? – 11:30
How do we conserve? – 12:08
Graywater? – 12:39
What did this system cost? – 12:57
Future rainwater harvesting plans? – 15:16

Please let me know if you have any questions☺

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Music sourced from the youtube audio library. Credits are as follows:

Far Away - by MK2

[homesteadonomics]

Wow! Thanks so much for the response guys! Lots of good questions...actually way too many that I can't keep up... and I'm sorry for that :)
..but please try to keep it positive with one another. Not everyone will agree with each other, and that's okay. But bringing up things that really don't have anything to do with this video doesn't really do much good :/
Anyways, thanks for watching :)

[alanbrown]

FWIW, there was an attempt to claim ownership of rainwater by the water companies in the UK.

It got as far as court - and the defendants cleverly _almost_ walked the plaintiffs (the water companies) into an assertion that they owned all the water that fell from the sky, and by extension all the water that flowed into streams and rivers.


At some point the plaintiff lawyers realised that claiming ownership of all the water that fell everywhere meant that would also be admitting legal liability for billions of dollars in flooding and erosion caused by "their" water - at which point they adjourned and then withdrew the case.


That was the last that was ever heard of such claims in this country again.

[urhomie]

mans building a whole country in his backyard ..independent goals

[SokemRokemRobot]

IMO, $5k is cheap compared to what everything must be costing because of the inflation that is happening right now. You constructed that system at the right time. Great job!

[johnfenn]

As an Australian I grew up on tank water as have millions of Australians. You are doing great. You are well on the way to a beautiful oasis in the desert. Well done. Next some tall trees on the swales to create a mini environment and to enhance underground storage. Every drop of rain that falls on your land is yours, and you get to use it 3 times before you let it off the property. Brilliant video, 100 points.

[ScrapwoodCity]

We who live in the cities take for granted so many things. One of them is endless water supply. It's really amazing the fact that you put so much effort in collecting the rain water in order to fulfill the needs of your home! Awesome work man!

[judithallen]

I love that you get right to the point! No fluff just great info..thanks

[unstoppableExodia]

I respect that this guy is maximizing his rain water collecting capacity

[AntPDC]

It boggles the mind that the idea that collecting rain water might be "illegal" is even a thing!

[ryanjones]

2am and I'm learning how to collect rain water...



In july

[ms.farmgirl]

This is a good information video. I'd like to share something my dad did back in the 1940's-1970's, , when he was farming the land. We had a 380 acre farm that had self sustaining water management systems. There was a WELL on the property, but it was NOT really used. The water was too hard.
There was a water cistern system and a wind-will that did the majority of pumping. My dad had created a strainer system that he fashioned out of a MILKER filtration similar to coffee filters. This is where all the milk is strained before it goes into the Milk Cans for pick up. He did the same with with all the rainwater that went through a similar set up, , only instead of the 2 straining, , he had 5 strainings.
It was literally strained 5 times before it went into the underground tanks. Large wire screen, into a medium wire screen, into a smaller screen, and then through the fine filters that was many layers of cheese cloth and flour sack cotton fabric. Those were changed out after each rain falls, , and snow melting collection. It was ALL. Washed and clean all the time. NOTHING got through the filter system, , and it ended up PURE!
He had a circulation pump that pumped the water all the way through the system every week.. It was literally re-filtered on a regular schedule to keep the algae under control. It wasn't stagnant for long periods of time.

[freogirl]

We are in Australia.. Dams and local water catchment areas also fill from rain and runs offs. They are full of bird poop, dead animals and other contaminants. It then goes through a treatment and filtration system where chemicals are added before they enter the pipelines for home use.
There is nothing better than having your own water tank and knowing the history of the water that you use to drink and to feed your plants & animals with. Well done for doing your bit with helping to save the planet 😀

[quentinsmith]

Good to see the moisture farmers are doing well this season.

[brotherzeke]

The Water Man has a gift of speaking upright. The video is concise and edited well. Straight to point of answering these questions. Keep up the good work.

[SUVRVing]

For some reason I really like that PVC vacuum tube extender thing for cleaning out the rain gutters...

[robertmacdonald]

After watching this video for 5 minutes i gotta believe this guy has read the book "dune". If he hasnt he should.
You have a fine water conservation ethos, my friend.

[LeandroSilva]

Man, i just randomly got to this channel and boy I was lucky. if all the other videos are like this one, that is super cool! thanks for sharing!

[IanDenchasy]

YOU are such an inspiration! Our city of Atascaderod, CA has changed all their ordinances and zoning codes to ALLOW for and ENCOURAGE rainwater collection! 5 grand is NOTHING - just to connect to our water company here is cost over 25 THOUSAND DOLLARS PLUS THE MONTHLY COST OF THE WATER! We are building a tiny home here that will rely ENTIRELY on rainwater collection, low-voltage solar, and grey water recycling system. Keep preaching, dude, we really appreciate it.

[nickwit]

This water collection system is on a whole other level!

[amando]

"illegal to collect rainwater" is one of those laws that needs to be broken by everyone.