TM Water Working Group-Rainwater Collection and Permaculture Project Site Meeting at Wright Street Resource Center

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Comment by Chris Terbrueggen on October 22, 2010 at 5:03pm

The State of Rainwater Harvesting in the U.S.
by Tammie Stark, Faculty, Lane Community College, Consultant, Eugene Rainwater and Doug Pushard

As published in OnTap Magazine, Fall 2008

Rainwater catchment or rainwater harvesting (RWH) are catch-all terms for collecting, storing, and later using precipitation from rock out-crops, roofs, and other surfaces. Across the globe, rainwater is used for many purposes, including drinking water, irrigation, aquaculture, air conditioning, groundwater recharge, and fire fighting. It has been utilized for many centuries.

http://www.harvesth2o.com/state_of_rainwater.shtml

Comment by Chris Terbrueggen on October 22, 2010 at 3:43pm

Who is Garden Goddess Beki-Rebekah? It is not very clear who is the author of all this information on the website link. Credibility and transparency go hand in hand when someone is trying to make informed decisions about water use. Personally, I would dismiss this website source. Thanks, Chris

Comment by Barbara E. Burbey on October 22, 2010 at 3:01pm

Gail,

Thanks for the link below. I looked over the entire website very carefully and saw that the information you refer to was from 2006 and that the website is now defunct. None of the "credible sources" were identified which is always a red flag. If you cannot verify a source because it isn't identified then how can you determine its credibility? You can't. No one is suggesting that people drink the water they harvest in totes or rain barrels any more than one might suggest folks drink paint thinner. If rainwater cannot be used to water vegetables, then farmers and gardeners better start erecting tarps over their fields to prevent that "toxic" stuff from getting on their vegetables. Maybe it is time for us all to leave the planet or don our HazMat suits and oxygen masks before we step outside into the precipitation. Oh wait! I almost forgot, our inside environments are now toxic hellholes too. I guess we're doomed.
Why subscribe to a world vision of Toxicity? Who benefits from this kind of fear mongering?

Comment by Chris Terbrueggen on October 22, 2010 at 2:08pm

Gail, Thanks for the comment. I will pass this information along to the group. In addition to a first flush diverter, there are several different types of inexpensive material and filters that can be used to filter out roof top pollutants. I think it would be a good idea to see first hand how the water working group is addressing this before jumping to conclusions. Join us at a future workshop. Thanks, Chris

Comment by Gail Epping Overholt on October 22, 2010 at 1:45pm

Hi All,
I hope the event will be successful! I would like to note that the research isn't out there, but I would caution using any harvested water for edible gardens. See the following link for more information - I have not researched it's credibility, but I have been concerned about encouraging harvested rain water for this purpose depending on how the water was harvested. One way to improve the cleanliness of the water is to install a first flush diverter.

http://home.comcast.net/~leavesdance/rainbarrels/safety.html