Rainwater Harvesting Resources 1. Presentations (pdf) Big Blue Bucket presentation from SFPUC on rainwater harvesting and low-impact design in San Francisco. Rainwater Harvesting Training Presentation by the Texas Water Development Board, 2. Video This artistic “rainwater collecting tree”, created by Christina Bertea, transforms into a clothes line. Read more and see the video here. […]
Rainwater Harvesting Codes and Policy Rainwater systems are typically allowed, particularly for outdoor irrigation (and often without a permit) in much of the United States. Indoor, potable use of rainwater is the most challenging system to get a permit for. Rainwater tanks over 5,000 gallons typically require a permit, while smaller tanks don’t. When researching […]
System Examples Rainwater Harvesting Rainbarrels Four barrels create 200 gallons of storage. Cistern Earthworks- curb cuts
Cistern Site location: Berkeley, CA Backyard Cistern Goals: To collect rainwater for outside irrigation. Site description: A new roof was added to cover a patio area using plastic laminate. Gutters were added to this roof and directed into the cistern. The site has a second cistern collecting water from a different portion of the houses […]
Rain barrels Site location: Berkeley, CA Goals: To collect rainwater for irrigation and reduce fresh water use. To create a workable system with a small site and minimal space for storage. Site description:The yard is small, with narrow areas between adjacent houses. The fruit trees and raspberries are irrigated with greywater from the washing machine. Cost: […]
Earthworks- curb cuts Site location: Tucson, AZ Sidewalk strip water harvesting Goals: To harvest street runoff, prevent stormwater pollution, and irrigate plants. Site description: Wide sidewalk strip. Street graded towards sidewalks. Hot, arid climate, typical monsoon rains in the summer. One thing that makes the curb cuts really work here in Tucson is that most streets […]
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See rainwater harvesting projects including rainbarrels, cisterns, and curb cuts.
[img_assist|nid=427|title=|desc=Rainbarrels line the side of a garage.|link=node|align=left|width=125|height=100]This page includes the main article, web resources, city resources, and links to other water harvesting organizations around the county.
Harvesting rainwater can reduce our need–and demand–for water transport systems that threaten the health of the water cycle and our local environments.
On any house lot, there are three potential sources for harvesting the rain: Direct rainfall, street harvesting, and roof harvesting.