Collect Rainwater & Manage Flooding

[Marshall]

Marshall submitted a new article:

Collect Rainwater & Manage Flooding - Solve two common problems with one easy solution

The area I live in gets plenty of rain but unfortunately it all falls in a small number of storms. Although this is okay as far as replenishing the water-table it causes problems with a closed water system and is not sufficient to provide water for plants. The other problem is it causes flooding in a pond that does not have a full time in-out water supply such as a stream or spring. My ponds normal water level only allows for about 3 inches of extra water to flow in before it breaches the...

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[Meyer Jordan]

The vast majority of larger rain catchment systems utilize underground storage which has considerably more advantages than above ground storage.

 

[MitchM]

The vast majority of larger rain catchment systems utilize underground storage which has considerably more advantages than above ground storage.

I looked at installing a 5,000 gallon system from the manufacturer that this diagram came from so I could capture rainwater and snow melt, but the cost was more than $8K, even installing it myself, so it was cost prohibitive at the time.
I still have it as a possible project in the future.
Above ground water storage is not practical in my climate.

 

[Lisak1]

We store 1000 gallons under ground (regret not making it bigger!) and I believe it cost us around $1800 to add it to our pond build. The added cost was the blocks and some additional liner and gravel. We were already buying the pump and plumbing for the pond. One advantage is the water underground stays cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter - we didn't plan for that, but it's a nice added benefit.

Above ground water storage is, well, just another pond isn't it?

 

[Lisak1]

Also you mentioned overflow in your pond as an issue - every pond should be built with an overflow. Ours is plumbed to the storm drain so if the pond and reservoir are both full the excess has somewhere to go.

 

[MitchM]

Marshall, you mentioned not building the reservoir too deep so you don't exceed the pump head pressure capacity.
Head pressure is calculated above the water level, not total height pumped.

 

[sissy]

I had an underground tank put in when the septic tank was done and my gutters go to it and it holds 400 gallons of water .But i drop a pump down in my with a hose connected to it to water my plants .It did almot go empty after no rain for 3 weeks plus i have rain barrels that i put fertilizer in all of them with epsom salts to boost the fertilizer .Also true the underground tank does not allow mosquito's to breed like meyer said the underground can be filtered also

 

[MitchM]

I really like the idea of having your own water supply, but if anyone doesn't like the cost of clean municipal water, try calculating the costs of cleaning the water yourself!

 

[sissy]

I had city water back in NJ but it was not expensive back then ,water bill was usually around 15 dollars a month not sure what it is now .Here I have well water but that has it's setbacks also .Well 11 years ago cost 24 hundred dollars with filter and pressure tank and pump .Had to replace the pump 4 years ago at a cost of 800 dollars and then pressure tank went and replaced the 20 gallon with a 44 gallon proflow tank( reason pump went out it was cycling to much ) and also put in a better filtration system at a cost of 300 dollars and my labor free and help from you tube .Wells now cost 58 hundred dollars and well driller is in NC as most of them here are gone .1 hp pump and an over 400 ft . deep well .Owning a house and learning all this new stuff is expensive .I remodeled my other homes but never had to deal with a well so learning as I go .OH plus when I pulled the pump i had to add shock tablets to the well at a cost of 15 dollars .11 years here and I think this house cost me more than any of the other houses I remodeled and this was new .