water catchment system

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water catchment system

by Nathan
(Pittsburgh )

I use my gutters and downspouts to route all rain water to my garden. my whole plot of land is a giant water catchment system as my garden is at the base of a gentle grade that is my property.

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water catchment system

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Mar 03, 2011

Gravity is King
by: Jacki

Hi Nathan - would love to see some pictures of your set up!

I have several systems that are fed by gravity so I can simply use a siphon by dipping one end of the hose into a rain barrel, then allow gravity to do the heavy lifting. Once the siphon starts, the whole barrel can be emptied in a few minutes into a fish pond or a garden bed, or run through a drip irrigation system.

Feb 03, 2012

Rain water question
by: Ben

Should there be any concern from the chemicals that make asphalt shingles and your vegetables?

Drought Smart Plants reply:
Hi Ben, that's a good question. You're wondering if the chemicals might somehow be taken up by the plants and the vegetables might be contaminated?

I would say that there might be a risk of contamination from newer roofs where the run off might contain particles or chemicals, especially the 'first run' or the water that comes off the roof during the first few minutes of a rainfall.

Some people direct this away from their rain barrel or cistern to avoid contamination from debris and bird droppings.

I don't know if there have been any studies specifically on chemicals that might be released from asphalt shingles. All my roofs are either plastic (Super Bobs Greenhouse Film) or metal, and I've never worried about this aspect of salvaging rain water.

To be on the safe side, use any water that you're not sure of on mulch beds, which will pretty much filter out any contaminants.

In any case, the amount of pollutants will be very minute once it gets diluted with the water, so the amount that actually gets into vegetables will most likely not be much. You probably would get more pollution by standing in the rain in any major city! (just my opinion!)

Jacki