[Water] Rainwater / Rainfall Collection (merged)

by **Cyrus** » Fri 18 Feb 2005, 19:03:20

I cant really get much information on this so maybe someone here has some idea....is rainfall around the world increasing or decreasing? Here...im seeing a great decrease.

by **ararboin** » Fri 18 Feb 2005, 21:28:18

We've been in a drought in Nebraska for the last 6-8 years at least. I haven't seen a good gully washer gut busting thunderstorm for I don't know how long.

When I first moved onto the place, we used to get some real rains that occasionally washed out the road over the creek. That hasn't happened in ten years. River levels are down, reservoirs at record lows, ground water taking nose dives. But the state actually took the astounding action of limiting some pivot irrigation for the coming season. Really pissed off the farmers growing corn in pure sand. I can only wish for a permanent ban on pivots statewide. Fat chance.

by **Cyrus** » Fri 18 Feb 2005, 21:34:45

Finally someone wise and observant enough to realise this issue!

by **savethehumans** » Sat 19 Feb 2005, 01:14:42

It depends on where you're living.

The fearful thing is when it drops in places where it is needed most--good, aerable agriculture country. After all, even irrigation has to have water from SOMEWHERE--dryness and drought have a funny way of lowering water levels. No rain also means that when you take water, it doesn't get replaced.

No water for growing, drinking, keeping clean so disease doesn't come along. Not a pretty picture.

Climate = long term weather/temperature norms.
Climate Change = long term change in CLIMATE.

Too much rain, or too little? Either way, this ain't just "freaky weather" anymore!

by **BabyPeanut** » Sat 19 Feb 2005, 07:23:47

I am getting so much more rain now that frost heave is demolishing a brick retaining wall on my property. The ground is always either wet or icy now.

by **KiddieKorral** » Sat 19 Feb 2005, 07:50:49

Things are pretty normal here. We're in our dry season now.

by **Terran** » Sat 19 Feb 2005, 16:32:39

Over here, the climate is normal. Usually summer and fall are mostly sunshine everyday, and morning fog. During the winter its pretty mild, but its the wet season.
Back in El Nino 1998, it was extreamly intense, we had record rainfall, and alot of other changes elsewhere in the world.

by **lowem** » Sat 19 Feb 2005, 20:08:47

Last Thursday, the measured rainfall in Singapore was less than 1 mm. For weeks it has been so dry that the grass has turned brown in many places.

On 9 Feb 2005, the first day of our Chinese New Year holidays, the measured temperature was the highest in 15 years, at 35.5 degC. We're having one of the hottest and dryest periods in years.

Firefighters have been fighting 6 bush fires a day, with over 200 bush fires started around the place - Singapore is a small country so that's quite a lot of fires. Due to these bush fires, we're having haze again, and this time it's not Indonesia's fault (winds are actually blowing away).

How's that for global warming and climate change, for this region.

by **Grimnir** » Sat 19 Feb 2005, 21:02:59

It has increased where I live. For the past couple of spring/summers, we've had some pretty major flooding to contend with.

by **maverickdoc** » Sat 19 Feb 2005, 21:12:13

Increase, but its oil. yes its been Raining OIL, before it was raining Man (hallelujah). do you think global warming has anything to do with it?

by **Cyrus** » Sat 19 Feb 2005, 21:45:20

People seeing an increase.....maybe there is a lot of flooding..but is it like this.....dry,dry,dry,dry,dry, and then finally......FLOOD!!!! That seems to be whats happening...either drought..or drought then flood..nothing normal.

Lowem...your side of the world is seeing this trend first.....the US has only began to feel this decreasing rain's wrath!

by **skateari** » Sat 19 Feb 2005, 22:16:29

Im in southern california.. and as you have all most likely heard, were having a ton of rain this year. Its raining right now pretty hard, and its been raining the last two days strait. I think we are up to over 50" already and normaly its about 10-15". Weird stuff

by **Grimnir** » Sat 19 Feb 2005, 22:22:03

SOSaD wrote:People seeing an increase.....maybe there is a lot of flooding..but is it like this.....dry,dry,dry,dry,dry, and then finally......FLOOD!!!! That seems to be whats happening...either drought..or drought then flood..nothing normal.

Not really; I'm in the Great Lakes region, and this past spring it was just rain, rain, rain.

by **Cyrus** » Sat 19 Feb 2005, 22:37:37

Maybe as the trend moves east...the areas not yet affected will feel more rain then usual before the big decline...that seems to be the case as the western US definetly is seeing a decrease while eastern is seeing an increase. I think im onto something.

by **chargrove** » Sun 20 Feb 2005, 02:34:07

Shouldn't this be different for different regions? I thought one of the big hallmarks of global warming was that it changed predominant sea and air currents, so that while the overall global temperature gradually works its way up, different regions may end up changed for the hotter or colder, wetter or drier (or a combination of both, in the form of increased instability when the currents aren't very smooth), depending on how these affecting currents change.

by **lowem** » Sun 20 Feb 2005, 06:11:17

I would've liked to see some snow over here. Instead it's been getting warmer and very dry.

Usually the RH is 80-90% for our "hot and humid" tropical climate, lately it's been hitting 60-70% only - which is kind of odd.

Let's see what the weather has got to show us next.

by **BabyPeanut** » Sun 20 Feb 2005, 09:40:55

Grimnir wrote:
SOSaD wrote:People seeing an increase.....maybe there is a lot of flooding..but is it like this.....dry,dry,dry,dry,dry, and then finally......FLOOD!!!! That seems to be whats happening...either drought..or drought then flood..nothing normal.

Not really; I'm in the Great Lakes region, and this past spring it was just rain, rain, rain.

Same in the mid-atlantic region.

Beside doesn't the song go "it never rains in California...it pours"?

by **Cyrus** » Sun 20 Feb 2005, 14:04:21

Well chargrove's regional theory sounds most true....although i am in the great lakes region and am seeing a definite decrease...weird.

by **PeakOiler** » Fri 11 Mar 2005, 19:59:01

I thought I would relate some information regarding rainwater collection for homeowners from my own experiences.

Assuming one doesn't have neighborhood residential restrictions for setting up some cisterns to collect rainwater off one's roof, then consider the following:
Each 1,550 gallon high-density polyethylene (HDPE) tank cost me about $439 from a "local" vendor--about 60 miles away. I bought three tanks. (I'm about to invest in three more 1,550 gallon tanks this year.) Shipping costs was about $120. The PVC pipes and fittings were about $200. The ballast pump was about $700. The $60 filter assembly included a 5 micron sediment filter and a 3 micron carbon filter and two pressure guages. The ultraviolet lamp (see http://www.ultraviolet.com )was about $700. Rain gutters should be considered part of the cost of a rainwater collection system, but rain gutters aren't always used for collecting rainwater, since people put them on houses anyway for some reason.

I spent about $450 for rain gutters so I will include that cost here in this analysis.
Total investment: Approximately $3550. I spread this out over two years.

One cannot plumb a rainwater (nor a wellwater system for that matter) to any city service public water line-- "T'd" to the house-- unless you get a special permit (more $$$) which requires additional equipment such as back flow preventors, and the additional equipment must be installed by a certified plumber (more $$$) and inspected annually (more $$$). Of course, one may not want to pay such permitting fees and annual inspection fees every year. Forget that. A stand-alone rainwater system is less expensive than to pay for annual permits and inspections.

Additional ongoing maintenance costs include new filters after about two months or after filtering about 5,000 gallons of water. Home Depot sells the twin filter pack for $45. The frequency of replacing filters can vary, depending on how clean your rainwater is coming off the roof and how much water one uses. Leaves from roof-overhanging trees are not good for rainwater collection systems. Screens in the gutter downspouts work pretty well for large debris, and there are a couple of other plumbing tricks that remove solids that I won't detail here, but will prolong the life of the micron filters.

As far as rainwater saving energy, this could be debated. I now use more electricity per month at my house for the UV lamp and the pump. The UV lamp I have draws 36 watts, 24/7. The pump comes on everytime you turn on the water. I estimate the rainwater system uses about 30 additional kilowatt-hrs per month, about $3/mo. at my electric rate. I wonder how much power (or other embedded costs) I save the city water company. ???

Since I don't have enough storage capacity yet to last me through the dry summer season, I still am paying the city water company their $25 /mo. minimum fee to maintain their service if needed. Once I get more capacity, I can quit the city water service and then the payback begins...

The benefits:

The rain here in Central Texas is only slightly acidic, about pH 6.8. There is no limestone (calcium carbonate) in the rainwater compared to the city water. The city water ruined both toilets after 30 years from lime buildup. The new toilets should last forever with soft rainwater. Likewise for shower heads, faucets, hot water heaters, etc.

The dishes come out spotless.

The rainwater does not leave lime in my solar water still.

Clothes are cleaner.

There's no arsenic or lead in rainwater.

See http://www.rainwatercollection.com for more information.

James

The edit corrected the price per 1,550 gallon tank (at that time of purchase) and the total estimate.

by **pup55** » Fri 11 Mar 2005, 21:33:54

You and kpeavy are my two heroes.

How expensive is water in Central Texas?
Does the city still charge you for sewer?
What's your typical monthly water consumption?

[Water] Rainwater / Rainfall Collection (merged)

Annual rainfall...increasing or decreasing?

[Water] Rainwater / Rainfall Collection (merged)

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