Rainwater Harvesting The Passive and Active Approach
The growing interest in conservation has motivated
many people and businesses into the practice of rainwater harvesting. There are two different approached to rainwater harvesting, active and passive. The active approach diverts rainfall and stores it for later use in various catchment products including pillows, above ground tanks and cisterns. Passive rainwater harvesting is a natural approach to slowing down and controlling the flow of rainwater thus allowing it to infiltrate the soil. Passive techniques include : Earthworks - includes creating berms, bio swales, rain gardens. A swale is a depression or ditch. Many are dug
perpendicularly, "on contour," to the slope using the excavated soil to
create a berm down slope. Rain gardens are shallow basins used in the landscape to collect water and create areas of water penetration around groups of plants. These types of infiltration basins will detain, purify and slowly
release water to the surrounding plants and into the groundwater supply . Permeable surfaces - curb cuts, permeable pavers. These types of surfaces allow natural infiltration of rainwater into the surrounding environment reducing storm water runoff and pollution.
Simply directing the gutter downspout or overflow from an active rainwater collection system into a passive rainwater system will greatly increase the volume of water you can control.
The best sustainable systems are designed with a
combination of active and passive rainwater harvesting systems.
Remember ....."It's
not how much you get, it's how much you get to keep."
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We just finished a shoot of an Original Rainwater Pillow installation at a home in Boston. Massachusetts.. The 650 gallon pillow was installed under a deck. The collected rainwater will be used to irrigate the homeowner's garden. The segment will air early 2010. Stay tuned !
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