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They say they have already been using significantly less water than their state allotment, and they are still going to be under the new allotment by a large amount. Yet they are still going to charge more for water in order to encourage even less water use.

People already spent time and money to use less water, so much so, they say they are fine in a drought, but are getting punished anyway. These people need new neckties.

They say they have already been using significantly less water than their state allotment, and they are still going to be under the new allotment by a large amount. Yet they are still going to charge more for water in order to encourage even less water use. People already spent time and money to use less water, so much so, they say they are fine in a drought, but are getting punished anyway. These people need new neckties.

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[–] • 0 pt

So I did that math a while back. I live in Marin county and had a small-ish house but it would still get about 14,000 gallons on the roof every year.

Here's the rub: That 14,000 gallons falls primarily in about 4 months. Where do you store it? Well, I thought an above-ground pool would do the job, and I was right about that. Problem is then the expense of buying and setting one up properly - emphasis on PROPERLY, and the cleaning of the water for future use.

Turns out that, at least here, it didn't make financial sense to go to all the trouble for that. Also, I think your "130 gallons a day" is a little low - at least for a family of 4. I think it's closer to 300 gallons. Again, that's for a family, so if you were figuring on one or two people you're pretty spot on.

All of this said, when I finally leave this suburban shithole (Marin County is the very bastion of hypocritical liberalism), I will absolutely dig a small lake and set up water capture and proper filtration / storage. These days it would be utterly stupid not to do so if you have the room.

[–] • 1 pt

You also have to calculate evaporation losses. Here in the hot southwest I lose about 600 gallons per week from my pool.

[–] • 0 pt (edited )

I think you would need a pond or somewhere to store it efficiently. They have tanks that can store that amount https://www.tankandbarrel.com/plastic-poly-vertical-water-storage-tanks-pm10000-bushman-vertical-water-storage-tank-10000-gallon-p-3221.html but they're pretty expensive. Although, I doubt you would need such a large system to buffer those 14000 gallons unless all the rain falls in a very short period of time.

The water is useful for irrigation. Dripline systems are pretty efficient I'm doing a 10x20 ft garden area and it seems to need about 50 gal/week. If I was to capture the water on my roof I could do 5x the areas on just the roof water alone.

Not really practical given the cost of water in this area, but it's neat to try and go closed-loop as much as possible.

[–] • 0 pt (edited )

You store it in an underground cistern. Downspouts can run into an above ground filtering box of some sort, catching bigger debris. From there, a pipe runs it to your underground storage tank. From the cistern, you can run pipes to your home, pulling the water up by a jet pump. From there, it'll travel through your in-house filtering system.

This is more ideal for toilet/showering. They do have very expensive UV water filtering systems you can set up if you really did want to consume it.

An underground cistern/tank collecting rainwater, coupled with well water and water softener and you are good to go.

Not as easy as city water, but a little work or hiring someone and spending a few shekels can take care of your water needs.

[–] • 0 pt

A few shekels? Installing an underground cistern large enough to store a rainstorm's worth of water and plumbing it to your house can easily cost $100,000.