The second week of 2011 there are three flood warnings and two storm warnings flashing little red triangles in the corner of my screen. In a macabre bit of irony, The Oregonian crumpled on my coffee table just told me “By 2015, typical Portland homeowners will have seen their monthly city utility rate rise from $42.58 to $116 in 15 years.”
The solution is so obvious it’s almost like we’ve been standing in puddles of it for the last two months. Rain barrels, while not a novel innovation even with the term “rain catchment system”, are having a renaissance in Portland. And if you have the skills to place a pan under leaky faucet, you can save a little of our sopping season to help your garden and landscaping flourish, give the environment a little reprieve and save yourself a few dollars this summer. Portland’s own Rainbarrel Man, AKA John Elliote, rain harvesting designer and installer featured on Neighborhood Notes two years ago, offered simple steps anyone can follow to capture rain from their roof to use for irrigating gardens and outdoor greenery.
Step 1: Gather Supplies You'll Need
First you need supplies. For containers your options will vary from Golden Grail to utility bucket, depending on your budget and aesthetic aspirations. Elliote recommends, and sells, large plastic drums composed of “chemically inert” material. He said for the purposes of watering a garden for edible produce the only safe container is one with no potential to leech chemicals into the water supply.
“The problem is a lot of barrels say ‘food storage container’ and people get the impression that’s safe,” Elliote said. “But it’s not what was stored in the barrel you need to worry about, you need to make sure the materials used to make it are safe.”
Local wineries sometimes sell wine barrels ideal for outdoor irrigation, and ceramic containers are available online and at gardening centers. For safe plastic, try recycling centers or a knowledgeable installer like Elliote, Harvest the Sky or Portland Purple Water. To use water for gardening a spigot of some kind must be inserted and sealed into the barrel a few inches above the base of the container so clean water can be easily fitted to a drip irrigation line or a hose.
Step 2: Create a Route for the Water
Photo © Heather Zinger
Next, you need a route to get the water from your gutters to the barrels. Elliote recommends a Watersaver Diverter, available at hardware stores and online. Some do-it-yourselfers develop their own systems like Chris Gibbs, a PSU engineering student with 11 converted wine barrels irrigating the front and back landscaping of his home on Southeast Stark. Gibbs used rain chains, purchased online, to direct water to the containers. “The sound of the water, and watching it run down to the barrels really adds the kind of atmosphere I personally like,” Gibbs said.
Step 3: Choose Method of Delivery to Your Garden
The last essential item for your system is a method of delivering the water from the basin or container to your garden. With any gravity-powered system the most efficient delivery is done by drip irrigation systems, according to Elliote. “You can get the water directly to the roots, and nothing gets wasted or erodes the soil as runoff,” he said. He and several manufacturers provide lines designed for very low-pressure systems, like those dependent on gravity.
Merina Chase, who uses her rain catchment system to irrigate the backyard garden beds and front yard landscaping surrounding her Laurelhurst home, said she has simplified the irrigation process to its essentials:
“I just think it’s easiest to fill buckets at the spigot and carry water,” she said. “The best use is for the kids to play around in the mud anyway.” After five years using barrels, Chase said, caring for plants and outdoor projects was easier with a waterspout in her hand.
Step 4: Find a Location for Containers
Now that you have the fundamental materials find a location for your containers. Consider the appearance of your home, ease of routing water from downspouts and convenient access. If a location is aesthetically unacceptable, consider wooden covers. Elliote designs wooden-slat covers for barrels. When Laurelhurst resident Jim O’Connor wanted to add two barrels for a new garden in front of his home he built a wooden stand of lattice to avoid visible tubs. He said his wife was pleased with the appearance and excited for the new garden.
To produce enough pressure to effectively use drip irrigation, Elliote said containers should be elevated at least two feet higher than the area you intend to water. Lumber can be used to build a stand, but for a low price Elliote said cinder blocks can support several 55 gallon barrels.
Step 5: Don't Forget About Routine Maintenance
After installing your containers and attaching your irrigation system remember routine maintenance. In warm weather add mosquito prevention to your water. There has been some success using guppies to maintain water quality, but occasional cleaning is recommended.
Good article. I've long had the dream of routing my gutter run-off to an underground container in my backyard. Obviously, there would need to be a pump involved. How high would you need to elevate to get sprinkler-worthy pressure? How efficient would such a system be from an electricity consumption standpoint?
Mitchell, here is a website that should answer all your questions. This is the most detailed site that I have ever seen on building a rain harvesting system. Even though the system is above ground it will show you what is involved in the building of one. It shows parts, prices, where to find them, info., about them and so forth. Ole Errson also formed a group on Yahoo called Rainwater Harvesting and there is a link on the site for that. you should join that group and see what others are saying about larger systems that use such things as pumps and electricty. I hope this helps. http://www.harvestingwater.com/rainwatr.htm
Mitchell,
The total height (elevation) needed all depends on how deep you buried your tank. This is called verticall lift. It is simply the distance between the bottom of the tank and the highest point of demand in your system. Example: If your using a submersible pump in your underground tank, and your highest sprinkler head is 20 ft. higher that the bottom of your tank, then the vertical lift is 20 ft. In helping you choose the right pump, that will give you enough pressure and flow to meet the demands for your system, here is a website that has compiled and simplified this imformation for you.
www.rainharvest.com-info-how-to-choose-the-right-pump.pdf
Mitchell,
Your answer is almost 93 feet!! Here’s why: "sprinkler-worthy" is a tricky word. Most Portland homes receive between 40-80 psi consistently from the municipal supply. Irrigation systems and components are designed in expectation of that consistent pressure. While individual components like drip emitters, valves, and filters may have psi manufacturer operating minimum requirements between 8 and 20 psi most systems have a maximum recommended operating psi of 30. But each drip emitter or traditional sprinkler along the line adds to a psi loss, so, a basic rule is the larger the system and specifically, the larger the watering zone the greater the total psi requirement for operation. To achieve a “sprinkler-worthy” irrigation system from a rainwater harvesting cistern over a “standard” sized irrigation zone you’ll have to supply a consistent pressure in the 40psi range. If you’d like to use gravity for this your cistern or barrel will have to be 92.5 feet above the irrigation zone! Fortunately there are ways around this. You can use a pump. Or from a zero energy consumption standpoint, studies have shown that any positive pressure in irrigation systems with non-pressure compensating emitters will result in watering efficiency of as much as 80%. This means that a drip emitter rated at .5 gallons per hour might deliver .4 gallons per hour even with minimal psi. The only drawback is an inconsistent watering result between emitters. Each irrigation system, landscape, or garden is unique. The key is to conduct your own experimentation. Good luck and call/email us if you need us.
Best,
Jason Garvey
Portland Purple Water LLC
www.pdxpurple.com
53-922-3583
The reason utility rates in Portland have risen is not so much the cost of water, but the fees the city assesses for theoretical sewer use. In order to meet requirements of a Federal order to clean up the Willamette, Portland has embarked on a huge building program, including the Big Pipes (E and W), and all those swales you see. You're paying for all this in your sewer rates.
The city calculates how much sewer fee to charge you year-round based on how much water you use in the winter (Dec. to March, I believe), on the assumption that you're not watering plants then, and all water use results in an equal amount of sewer use.
Thus, if you save rainwater to water your plants in the summer, it will make no difference in the sewer rate on your bill. It may cut the water consumption rate, but you'll note that it's not the majority of the bill. Aside from the environmental benefits, the best monetary savings would be to use rainwater in the crucial winter period to flush your toilet, and other indoor uses, to reduce your winter water bill, and thus your year-round sewer assessment.
Water Butts are kind of expensive to buy roughly speaking its about $1 per 2.5l.
Its relatively easy to build large wooden tank line it with heavy plastic sheeting (say pond liner) I made a 1400l tank for ~$150.
I've got a couple of water butts at the same level as the tank collecting rainwater and an underground hosepipe connecting to the big tank via an ordinary 'tank adaptor'
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