Rain, Rain, Flow Away!

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. But in a day when water supplies are increasingly overtaxed in many parts of the nation, a growing number of U.S. homeowners are doing as the Romans did.

Capturing runoff from the roof, or “rainwater harvesting” (RWH), is a two-thousand-year-old idea used by the ancient Romans. Today it has caught on in places as diverse as Germany where some 400,000 RWH systems are in use, and Australia where 82 percent of rural residents depend on RWH for all of their domestic water supplies.

Last year after doing some Internet research, two North Carolina residents decided to give rainwater harvesting a try. John and Joanne Snow installed an RWH system on their second home near Asheville because, John explains, “we can use it for landscape irrigation, and because it’s good to have a backup water supply since you can’t be certain today about any water source.”

The Snows’ rainwater harvesting system was installed by Blue Ridge Atlantic Enterprises (BRAE) of Oakboro, N.C. Owner Shawn Hatley admits that concerns about water supplies are commonly associated with the West. “But in the East,” he argues, “more water means that rainwater harvesting can achieve greater economies of scale.”

While homeowners focus on drinking water, Hatley notes that 60 percent of water consumed in an average home is for non-potable uses. “There’s toilet flushing,” he observes, “and laundry, landscape irrigation, or filling your pool. With city water you’re paying to treat 100 percent of the water you use, though only 40 percent of it needs to be potable.”

Upscale homeowners who have spent big money on landscaping, adds Hatley, “should also ask themselves what happens to that investment if you’re not allowed to irrigate during a drought.” Another economic consideration for Charlotte residents is a city program that shares 75 percent of the cost, up to $3,000, of installing a rainwater harvesting system. And for families whose homes are not connected to public water, RWH systems are competitive with the cost of drilling a well.

Every RWH system, says Hatley, must accomplish four tasks: filtering the water, storing the water, pumping the water, and treating the water so that, for example, sediment does not clog a garden hose or sprinkler head.

“And if you’re worried about some big, ugly tank sitting in your yard,” continues Hatley, “that’s not a problem. For some homeowners, we conceal the tank underground. But others, like the Snows, prefer an aboveground tank.” As John Snow affirms, “We chose an attractive tank made with timber, which complements our mountain home very nicely.”

Though Hatley concedes that “rainwater harvesting is in its infancy in the United States,” he believes that BRAE has history—and today’s environmental realities—on its side.

Does rainwater harvesting sound like an interesting technology? Learn more by contacting BRAE at 704-485-8031 or www.braewater.com.