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Green Hints to Save Water: Rainwater Harvesting
 Last month, we looked at minimizing
grass areas, mulching, using drought
tolerant/native plants in
landscaping and group planting as
some of the ways to reduce outdoor
watering. Although these methods
would reduce the amount of water
used, effectively managing the
amount of rain we receive is equally
important.
Unlike some parts of Texas, our area
has been fortunate in not having to
frequently deal with droughts. Even
with plenty of rainfall, we continue
reliance on city water for our
landscaping needs. One way to
effectively manage the amount of
rain we receive is to utilize rain
water harvesting systems. Rain water
harvesting has been around for a
long time and is the process by
which we can direct the collected
rain water to the storage cisterns
and containers to be used at a later
time, or directly to the plants or
gardens for immediate use. Depending
on the amount of rainwater stored,
we can reduce our dependence on the
conventional water sources for our
irrigation needs. Typical paybacks
of these systems can last between 5
to 7 years depending on the system
components, tank locations, and
system size.
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