Rain Catchment System Design

Profit from rainy days with a system that will collect and store your rainwater for future use on the homestead.

By Tracy Dahl
Updated on February 15, 2023
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by Tracy Dahl

Profit from rainy days with a rainwater catchment system design that will collect and store your rainwater for future use on the homestead.

It begins slowly with the sound of a few drops of rain hitting the roof. As the storm intensifies, the rain’s drumming rises to a crescendo, thunder booms, and the sky opens up. Soon, a torrent of water gushes through the downspout and into a waiting rain barrel. The rain will water your garden for you, while the water collected will nurture your crops for days to come. For gardeners and many others, saving rainwater and snowmelt is an economic, sustainable, and enjoyable practice.

Why Collect Rainwater?

Water is life. Collecting precipitation for later use is a human practice as ancient as our species. While it’s a largely passive activity, it does require setting up infrastructure to accomplish the goal. Some people are lucky enough to live in an area with ample and well-timed precipitation. Where my wife and I live, in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of southern Colorado, precipitation is less reliable. Where you live and what purpose you have in mind should determine the size and complexity of your system. What are your goals?

Gardening. Plants love rainwater. In most situations, it’s better for gardens than groundwater or treated city water. City water typically contains fluoride and chlorine, neither of which are good for plants and soil microbes. In our area, groundwater tends to be too salty, has too high of a pH level, and has too many dissolved solids for continuous agricultural use. These things tend to build up in the soil over time, showing up as white, chalky-looking deposits, and reducing the vitality of the garden. Rainwater (either directly from the sky or from a stored source) is not only better in the short term, but it’s also better in the long term, as it washes accumulated deposits out of the soil, allowing sensitive biota to thrive.

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