Rainwater Capture Installations: A Good Business Opportunity

By Gregory Harris, LCDBM

This backyard used to have a swimming pool, but the yard was transformed into a rain-harvest collection system complete with a pondless waterfall. Harvested water keeps the landscape green year round, and drought-tolerant plants and porous materials add to the sustainable elements of the project. Paving stones were placed on top of an installation of Flexi-Pave, a porous product that allows for the capture of more rainwater. The rainwater storage tanks sit about five feet below this section of the backyard. Photo: Gregory Harris, LCDBM

Rainwater collection does not have the cache of ''cloud computing'' and ''4G'' cell phones and hand-held devices, but the capturing and reuse of rainwater for landscape irrigation and water features is a growing business.

Traditionally, rainwater harvesting was used as conservation tool. Areas with limited supplies of groundwater would urge its residents and small businesses to harvest rainwater as method to lessen the use of groundwater. This did not become a widespread phenomenon because the cost of water is usually low and the few incentives in place urging rainwater harvesting did not justify installing the equipment necessary to harvest rainwater.

City, state and the federal government are increasingly touting the benefits of capturing rainwater as a stormwater best management practice tool. For example, Los Angeles, Calif. is promoting low impact development (LID).

Atlantic Water Gardens' Clean Rain Ultra Downspout Diverter features a rain head that deflects leaves and debris and a first flush water diverter that prevents contaminants in the initial surge of water from being collected. Rainwater from the gutter flows into this system, with the white PVC pipe serving as the ''first flush.'' The rainwater flows into the storage containers via the black pipe. Photo: Gregory Harris, LCDBM

Rainwater for Irrigation

Using rainwater for landscape irrigation would seem to be the ideal use of a natural resource and many landscape contractors are embracing rainwater harvesting as a tool to achieve more sustainable projects.
Mike Garcia, owner of Southern California-based Enviroscape, believes in the big-picture view of rainwater capture.

''Los Angeles gets 14 to 15 inches of rain each year,'' he said. ''Most of that water gets caught in the streets. That water picks up chemicals from the streets, it goes down the storm drains and eventually gets pulled into the oceans. In order to help save the oceans, we should be reusing rainwater.''

Capturing and reusing rainwater is a key component of Garcia's business. In addition to using rainwater for irrigation, Enviroscape installations use rainwater for pondless waterfalls and water features projects.

Drought tolerant plants including Senecio, Aeonium, Kalenchoes bring color to the landscape. Rain Bird's subsurface drip irrigation system (as seen by the copper-colored line) is used to deliver the captured rainwater to the plants. Photo: Gregory Harris, LCDBM

Replacing the Pool

Garcia converted his own backyard swimming pool into a rainwater collection system that includes a pondless waterfall.

''I can keep the landscape green all year using two months of tap water instead of 12 months thanks to the rainwater that has been captured,'' he said.

Garcia's backyard includes underground storage for 4,000 gallons of rainwater, the waterfall and a permeable surface of the storage unit. The rainwater is collected from the roof, flowing from gutters down through to a downspout diverter that filters the rainwater. The filtered rainwater then flows down into the storage tanks.

Garcia's installation uses a downspout diverter from Atlantic Water Gardens. The company's Clean Rain Ultra Downspout Diverter features a rain head that deflects leaves and debris and a first flush water diverter that prevents contaminants in the initial surge of water from being collected.

After excavating an area for the rainwater storage, a 6-inch minimum sand base is installed. This is followed by the placement of rain tanks. After the tanks are positioned, landscape fabric is used to cover the tanks. A 12-inch sand layer is placed on top of the tanks, followed by a layer of 45 mm pond liner and a final course of sand base. Photo: Enviroscape

Storage System

Garcia uses EcoRain modular rain tanks for the water storage, preferring the use of subsurface storage rather than storage barrels or tanks that sit on the surface.

The installation of the rain tanks is relatively straightforward but labor intensive. After excavating an area for the storage or using space occupied by a swimming pool that is being replaced with rainwater capture equipment, a 6-inch minimum sand base is installed. This is followed by the placement of the rain tanks. After the tanks are positioned, landscape fabric is used to cover the tanks. A 12-inch sand layer is placed on top of the tanks, followed by a layer of 45 mm pond liner and a final course of sand base.

For his project, Garcia installed Flexi-Pave on top of the area that houses the rainwater storage area. This product allows for the capture of more rainwater.

''The Flexi-Pave is made from recycled tires, which adds to the overall sustainability of this project,'' he said. ''The recycled tires are ground up to a pea-gravel size. It is hand-mixed, laid down and smoothed out similar to how concrete is installed.''

Collected rainwater is stored underground where it is ready to use for irrigation and the pondless waterfall at this residence. Looking down into the vault that sits next to the rainwater storage tanks, the downspout that delivers water to be stored and pipes that transport the water to the irrigation and waterfall systems are visible. This opening is typically covered, preventing debris from entering this chamber. Photo: Gregory Harris, LCDBM

A computerized control system by Leader Pumps was installed to allow for the automatic operation of the pump, preventing it from dry running. The Pro Eco pump used on this job is a submersible model that was placed inside the cylindrical vault. Photo: Gregory Harris, LCDBM

Benefits of Drip Irrigation

The abundance of plant materials on this project are being supplied water via a drip irrigation system, which Garcia says is key in water conservation.

''A subsurface or underground sprinkler system makes great sense,'' he said. ''Choosing subsurface irrigation over conventional sprinklers will prevent overspray, the main cause of wasted water and money.''

Garcia's drip irrigation system of choice is Rain Bird's subsurface drip line with Copper Shield Technology.

''This system protects the emitter from root intrusion, resulting in fewer irrigation problems after installation,'' he said.

Garcia noted the benefit of the subsurface irrigation is to distribute water only where it is needed, at the roots of a plant.

''Drip irrigation is the world's most efficient type of irrigation, and subsurface drip is especially so because it is unaffected by wind and evaporation,'' he said. ''This results in 70 percent less water use than conventional overhead sprinklers.''

Homeowners may not choose to install as many landscape features as Garcia has for his home after getting a rainwater capture system, but Garcia believes there is no harm in adding amenities.

''It's hard to spend a lot of money on something you cannot see, when for a few dollars more, you can have a waterfall and a pond,'' he said.