The rain harvesting concept is growing because of the increasing concern for water in drier climates. Because this industry is still new, there are a lot of theories published to convince people to harvest more rain water. In fact, there are still a lot of government grants available to help encourage residents to collect water when it rains. After conducting a lot of research, I have located four fact-based reasons why rain harvesting is important.
4 Reasons to Harvest Rainwater
Although you will find a lot of other smaller benefits such as rain water being better for plants, I believe these 4 reasons are based on facts and will make a difference.
- You Save Money - Obviously the water you catch off your roof is free. When you use this water, you do not have to pay the city for service work. You will pay off the cost of the installation of your rainwater collection system in no time.
Interesting Fact: If your roof is 2,000 square feet and you have 30" of rain in a year, you can collect 37,400 gallons of water.
- You're not stuck with one water source - When you install a rainwater harvesting system, you no longer have to only rely on the main water source from your city. Therefore, you have control over the source of your water, how you use it, and how it is treated. In case of emergency, you will have a backup to keep your family safe.
Interesting Fact: The average person uses 80-100 gallons of water per day. If you have collected 5,000 gallons of water, you can take care of 3 people for about 15 days.
- Storm Water Management - When it storms and there is a large amount of water in a short period of time, the risk of flood damage can be reduced. This is because you are effectively catching and channeling most of the water to use it. This is instead of it all coming off your roof and landing around your house.
Interesting Fact: If your roof is 2,000 square feet and you have a 3" rainfall, that is 3,740 gallons of water that has to flow somewhere once it comes off your roof. If you do not have gutters installed, this amount of water can cause a lot of trouble.
- Less Hard Water - Rainwater is naturally soft water. As a result, you do not need to use a 'water softener' to treat your water. Installing and maintaining a water softener to treat your city water can get expensive. These costs can add up quickly.
Interesting Fact: If you have to run a water softener because your city water is too hard, you can spend up to $3000 for installation and $15 per month for the salt. In the first year, this is a total of $3180.
Why Harvest Rainwater Video:
After analysing these 4 practical reasons to harvest rainwater, it is obvious that they all lead back to saving money. Although the amount you save per year may not seam massive, over five years it adds up very quickly. I hope these reasons help you understand the importance of collecting rainwater when you can.
