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medoy t1_j48omcg wrote

Reply to comment by DDLJ_2022 in Nearly all of California exits the worst drought categories in U.S. Drought Monitor by pneumatichorseman

I don't think storing your own rain water is that helpful in most of California. It rains for 5 months then doesn't rain much for 7 months. The time I need the water is in those 7 months and you would need an insane amount of storage capacity to make a significant dent.

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DDLJ_2022 t1_j48rkdr wrote

I would assume any amount would help. If we were allowed I would get big tanks to store the rain water and use it for my trees and plants. Connect them to drip system and I wouldn't be using the drinking water.

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invincibl_ t1_j49amt7 wrote

This was a common DIY project especially back when we had a decade-long drought in most of Australia.

IBC tanks are a pallet-sized tank that is commonly used to transport fluids. You can acquire one (or several) of these for a few hundred dollars. Then you can just redirect your downpipe to the tank, put a filter in to catch leaves and other junk, install a hose fitting and you're done.

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medoy t1_j48u9d3 wrote

What is the espoused reason that is prohibited where you live?

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DDLJ_2022 t1_j49fn57 wrote

After your comment I did some digging and looks like city won't care if you collect it in bins etc. You will need a permit if you make a reservoir on your property to collect rain water. I will start doing small collection now.

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bermudaphil t1_j48r7m8 wrote

Well, if the water is pulled from reservoirs that are unlikely to get filled during those 5 months when people would be primarily being using water they collected from rainfall, then it seems like it would have some positive impact.

This is from the point of view of someone who lives in a country where every. single. house. is constructed with roofs that catch, purify and store water for usage. Not a third-world country, a quite wealthy one.

During the summer people do have to purchase water during the few months with very little rainfall, but it isn't as if those months where we get to have full tanks due to rainfall, and get to have that water not be bogged down by chemicals, are having no positive impact. Quite the opposite, in fact.

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medoy t1_j48s92i wrote

Most of California's water consumption is from agriculture. A couple personal catchment systems would make little difference.

Its hard to understand until you've lived here how its like the Atacama desert for much of the year and then only modestly rainy for a couple months most years.

Many months are not "very little rainfall" but basically zero rainfall.

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GArockcrawler t1_j49lkhv wrote

Are you even allowed to do that? I know that some western states prevent you from storing rainwater runoff because it "belongs" in the aquifers or some such nonsense.

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