i want a conclusion on Rain water harvesting?

Question

rain water harvesting

Answer 1

A conclusion? Rain water harvesting is good. If by that you mean collecting rainwater and using it to water your garden or wash your car.... it's called recycling!

Answer 2

people have been using rain water for domestic use ,in portugal and Spain for almost a thousand years
the Moors used to harvest water from the roofs of their houses to fill up tanks that were beneath the patios.,
the incas and Olmecs also used to have sofisticated waterharvesting principles ,and the idea is as old as the hills

a large part of the concept of permaculture is waterharvesting
and the principle is to redirect or absorb 100 percent of all the water that lands on you property ,during the rain.
this is called zero runoff.

we go even further, to include it into an enery flow ,for example

the water from the roof goes into a gutter to fill up a tank that over flows into a cannal which directs the water through the chicken house(or pig sty ) where it washes the manure to the vegetable garden.

also the water that comes from the shower,bath,hand basins ,and kichen sink,all go straight in to the garden to irrigate the plants.
if there is little water .with a simple arrangement you can also use the handbasins water to fill up the cistern to flush the toilet bowl

Also on the land or in the garden you dig as many holes as possible to be used as dams or as swales that either fill up with the rain and stay full to allow aqua culture (fish etc) or that fill up and then drain slowly into the ground to be added to underground water supplies and to saturate the ground deeply.

Permaculture means permanent agriculture
a concept put forward by Bill Mollisson in the 60`s

the designers manual is a complete hand book for environmental [e-mail]...

With practical solutions for energy systems ,infratructure ,housing,
animal shelter ,water systems and sustainable agricultural practises.
With the world and it`s history as it`s source
From the chinampas of Mexico to the teraced gardens of the Andes.
From the dessert whadis to the steppes of Russia.
Covering all climatic conditions temporal, dessert, humid and dry tropics.
with chapters on soil ,Water harvesting and land design,
Earth working ,Spirals in nature,Trees and water ,utilising energy flows,
Strategy for an alternative nation

this book also has many gardening tips,bio-gas,companion planting and ideas for structures ,how to cool down houses in hot climates ,how to warm up houses in cold climates with out using technology but rather by design.

always aiming at autosuficiency and sustainability .
this can all be found in the designers manual by Bill Mollisson,


Collectively portraying an ancient and natural philosiphy
With the Laws of Nature as its base
coupled to the present day level of scientific knowledge.

Permaculture is well known and you can find many references on the web.
there is a University of Permaculture in Australia

and poverty is not the target but quality of life is
and since permaculture is extremly compact form of growing things.utilising all space and utilising all resource ,it is productive and economic.

some other writers that are on the internet are
david Holmgren
Larry Santoyo
Kirk Hanson

Masanobu Fukuaka has written ,
One-Straw Revolution
The Road Back to Nature
The Natural Way of Farming
http://www.context.org/iclib/ic14/fukuok...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/masanobu_fu...

Simon Henderson
and Bill Molisson.

a representitive of the concept in USA is
Dan Hemenway at [e-mail]
[e-mail]
http://barkingfrogspc.tripod.com/frames....
http://csf.colorado.edu/perma/ypc_catalo...

I am a permaculture consultant for the department of Ecology for the regional government of Guerrero in Mexico

Answer 3

I spent some time in Jamaica. There they simply attach a gutter to a tin roof and it empties into a barrel with mosquito netting over it. Simple and effective.