Harvesting Rainwater for the Landscape
With this Sustainability Savings Tip, you can:
Save Up to $100-300/YR
Avoid Emissions of CO2: Up to 100 lbs./YR
Free Water Boosts Plant Growth & Reduces Potential Pollution
Whether it’s our summer monsoon season or our winter rainy period, harvesting rainwater is well worth the effort. Here are our top five reasons to ‘plant the rain.’
1. Rain is Free
We average almost 8-inches of rain a year. And, with a typical Arizona desert home, we have rooftops, driveways and sidewalks that make prime catchment areas. In fact, the rooftop of a 1500 square-foot home can collect almost 500 gallons from ½-inch of rain!
2. It's Good for Your Plants
Rainwater is a clean, salt-free source of water that contains many beneficial ingredients for plants. Rain can contain sulfur, potash, several other minerals and even microorganisms, all of which provide a boost to plant growth. During summer thundershowers there can even be an added bonus when lightening converts atmospheric nitrogen into a nitrogen solution for plants.
3. You Can Help Replenish Groundwater
Typically, rain falls and seeps underground to become groundwater in aquifers and/or it feeds rivers or lakes. However, the concrete, asphalt and land grading of cities have disrupted this cycle. It’s now more important than ever to collect as much rainwater as we can in our landscapes whether at our homes, properties, businesses or along our city streets.
4. It Will Improve Your Soil and the Environment
Rain is naturally distilled through evaporation prior to cloud formation making it one of the purest sources of water. This means that it’s one of the best ways to dilute salt buildup that naturally occurs in our soils. This happens due to so little rainfall and because we add our ‘hard’ water to the landscape with each irrigation. It is recommended to run your irrigation an extra cycle or two in the summer to help wash excess salts past the root zone of plants where it can cause leaf burn and other plant problems. But, if we get a good monsoon and you are collecting rainwater on your landscape, these extra irrigations will not be necessary. And there’s one more benefit to mention. Any applied fertilizers, insect granules or weed spray stay on your property, instead of running off where they can negatively impact our natural waterways.
5. Gravity is Always There to Help
Start from your highest water catchment surfaces (i.e., rooftop) and allow gravity to carry the water through gutters or channels to where you want it to provide the greatest benefit. Water harvesting systems can range from simple to complex. Go outside during your next rainstorm (if there’s no lightening) and observe how the water flows off your structures and property.
Checklist for Savings
Explore our Water – Use It Wisely Resources:
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