Home system collects rainwater for use in drier times

Simple system stores rainwater for use around the home.

Ngoc Nguyen
Sacramento Bee
05/17/2008

White tents offered respite from the 94-degree heat at the Auburn Home Show on Friday. Hundreds of fairgoers lingered under water misters and chugged bottles of the clear liquid.

People were already thinking water, so Robert Lenney tried to make them consider rainwater.

Lenney's Rocklin-based business makes a system to capture and store rainwater. Coupled with a special gutter guard to keep out debris, it can collect rainwater for watering plants and washing dishes and clothes.

The Sierra snowpack is below average. State officials said April and May were the driest spring on record. And Roseville has issued a drought alert – the first since 1994.

Lenney expects that as more residents reduce water use, rainwater harvesting could become more popular.

"Several counties are in a water crisis, and several water agencies have ordered water conservation. It's very important," he said.

Perusing Lenney's rain harvesting system, Scott Davis of West Sacramento said it makes sense, given the cost of water and conservation efforts.

Davis said his grandparents in Iowa collected rainwater and stored it in cisterns on their farm.

"They used a hand pump," he said. "It's interesting to go back in history."

Lenney's modern version – with special filters, a water pump and two cisterns – holds 2,800 gallons. It costs about $5,000.

But rainwater capture doesn't have to be so complicated or expensive.

"Simply starting with rain barrels is what I recommend. Get them at the hardware store or plant nursery," said Doug Pushard, a Texas-based consultant on rain harvesting.

Pushard said two 1,600-gallon cisterns at his home collect enough to water his plants during the summer.

Pushard, who started a Web site and online community around rainwater harvesting, said the low-tech practice has been used in the Southwest and in Georgia, where drought has sparked interest in quick solutions.

Although simple and cheap, rainwater harvesting hasn't traditionally caught on beyond remote or arid areas.

"It's so easy to just turn on the tap. In other places, people have to work harder," Pushard said.

Germany, Japan and Australia are also leaders in getting citizens to adopt rainwater harvesting, Pushard said.

In Japan and in Washington state, rainwater harvesting diverts stormwater and keeps sewers from overflowing. The same could help Sacramento during big storms, he said.

At the home show, Annette and Darrold Darling of Lincoln said they lost power and water for several days last winter.

"We're interested in being self-reliant and using resources available like sun, wind and rain," Annette said.

"I want one of those," she said, pointing to a stack of barrels.

Pushard advised homeowners to conserve water use before collecting rainwater. Low-flush toilets and shower heads and drip irrigation can halve water use and reduce the size of a water storage tank, he said.

"It's more precious," Pushard said. "The price of water is going up substantially; anything you can capture is gold."