Why water harvesting must be part of the solution
8 Jun, 2011 By: Ron Hall i-newsAs time goes on, most of us will be getting less potable water to irrigate our landscapes and grounds. That’s becoming clear as evidenced by the growing influence of the U.S. EPA WaterSense Program, several different “green” building initiatives, and incentives and restrictions implemented by many regional water purveyors. Each of these forces willl increasingly impact how we design, install and maintain clients' landscapes and grounds.
Also, it’s not inconceivable that activist organizations that have been focusing on other landscape-related issues, such as pesticide use, will turn their attention on our use of potable water for irrigation. How big of a jump is it from criticizing our industry's use of pesticides for “cosmetic” reasons to similarly castigating it for "wasting" potable water?
But, even in regions where using potable water isn’t now restricted or criticized, water treated to drinking-quality standards will become increasingly expensive. How many of us have seen our water bills go down? Regardless where we live or do business, the trend is up!
Is it possible that some time in the future it may become prohibitively expensive to use potable water to water landscapes?
That's why we must become more knowledgeable about water harvesting, and begin offering it to our customers. Water harvesting is the process of capturing, diverting and storing non-potable water for landscape irrigation and other uses, as well.
The simplest and most obvious form of water harvesting is the rain barrel that many home gardeners are using. But, there are a variety of low-tech and recently introduced technological innovations that are making water harvesting an increasingly popular source of irrigation water. Some are passive. They do not require mechanical systems to gather water. Some harvesting sysems are active.
Lynette Von Minden, a marketing specialist with Swanson Russell in Lincoln, NE, explains both types of systems, and gives an excellent overview of water harvesting in a recent article appearing on greenbuildingpro.com.
Her article offers a 5-step process in designing and installing a successful landscape water harvesting project.
The five steps:
1. Determine the reasons why the site wants to harvest water.
2. Estimate how much water will be needed for landscape irrigation
3. Establish and quantify renewable water resources at the site
4. Designing the water harvesting system
5. Evaluating or designing the irrigation system.
“Harvesting rainwater, stormwater, cooling system condensate and graywater is a smart and relatively painless process that can conserve significant amounts of fresh water for drinking,” she writes.
Download Her article here. It’s a fine overview of water harvesting for landscape irrigation.
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