Rainwater From The Road To The Garden

Most small-scale, residential rainwater harvesting systems we’ve seen rely on using an existing roof and downspout to collect water that would otherwise be diverted out into the environment. These are accessible for most homeowners since almost all of the infrastructure needed for it is already in place. [SuburbanBiology] already built one of these systems to take care of his potable water, though, and despite its 30,000 gallon capacity it’s not even close to big enough to also water his garden. But with some clever grading around his yard and a special rainwater system that harvests rain from the street instead of his roof, he’s capable of maintaining a lush food forest despite living through a drought in Texas.

For this build there are actually two systems demonstrated, one which is gravity-fed from the road and relies on one’s entire property sloping away from the street, and a slightly more complex one that’s more independent of elevation. Both start with cutting through a section of sidewalk to pass a 4″ PVC pipe through to the street where the stormwater runoff can be collected. The gravity-fed system simply diverts this into a series of trenches around the property while the second system uses a custom sump pump to deliver the water to the landscaping.

For a system like this a holding tank is not necessary; [SuburbanBiology] is relying on the soil on his property itself to hold onto the rainwater. Healthy, living soil can hold a tremendous amount of water for a very long time, slowly releasing it to plants when they need it. And, at least where he lives, a system like this is actually helpful for the surrounding environment as a whole since otherwise all of the stormwater runoff has to be diverted out of the city or cause a flood, and it doesn’t end up back in an aquifer. If you’re more curious about a potable water system instead, take a look at [SuburbanBiology]’s previous system.

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Re-imagining The Water Supply

Getting freshwater supplied across cities and towns in a reliable and safe way is no simple task. Not only is a natural freshwater reservoir or other supply needed, but making sure the water is safe to drink and then shipping it out over a dense network of pumps and pipes can cost a surprising amount of time and money. It also hinges on a reliable power grid, which is something Texas resident [Suburban Biology] doesn’t have. But since fresh water literally falls out of the sky for free, he decided to take this matter into his own hands.

The main strategy with a system like this is to keep the rainwater as clean as possible before storage so that expensive treatment systems are less necessary. That means no asphalt shingles, a way to divert the first bit of rain that washes dust and other contaminants off the roof away, and a safe tank. This install uses a 30,000 gallon tank placed above ground for storage, but that’s not the only thing that goes into a big rainwater catchment system like this. A system of PVC pipes are needed both for sending rainwater from the roofs of the buildings into the tank and for pumping it into the home for use. With all of that in place it’s both a hedge against climate change, unstable electric grids, and even separates the user from the local aquifer which may or may not have its own major issues depending on where you live.

While Texas legally protects the rights of citizens to collect and store rainwater, the same isn’t true for all areas. For example, Colorado only just passed a law allowing the collection and storage of a meager 110 gallons of rainwater and forbade it entirely beforehand. There are some other considerations for a project like this too, largely that above-ground systems generally won’t work in cold climates. On the other hand, large systems like these are really only needed where rainfall is infrequent; in more tropical areas like south Florida a much smaller storage system can be used

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Shapeshifting Material For Weather Adaptive Structures

Where [Isaac Newton] had his apple (maybe), [Chao Chen] found inspiration in a pine cone for a design project that lead to a water-sensitive building material. He noticed the way some pine cones are sensitive to water, closing up tight when it rains, but opening up with dry conditions. Some dissection of a pine cone revealed [Mother Nature’s] solution – different layers that swell preferentially when exposed to moisture, similar to how a bimetallic strip flexes when heated. [Chao Chen’s] solution appears to use balsa wood and a polystyrene sheet laminated to a fabric backing to achieve the same movement – the wood swells when wet and pulls the laminate flat, but curls up when dry.

As [Chao] points out, the material is only a prototype, but it looks like a winner down the road. The possibilities for an adaptive material like this are endless. [Chao] imagines a picnic pavilion with a roof that snaps shut when it rains, and has built a working model. What about window shutters that let air and light in but close up automatically in that sudden summer storm? Self-deploying armor for your next epic Super Soaker battle? Maybe there are more serious applications that would help solve some of the big problems with water management that the world faces.

Make sure you check out the video after the break, with a more decorative application that starts out looking like an [M.C. Escher] print but ends up completely different.

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Water Tank Monitoring System Is Now Slug-Proof

[Peter] is doing his part toward protecting the environment and conserving water. He’s built a rainwater collection system complete with an underground storage tank. Since he wanted to monitor the water level in the tank, he made a level indicating system. Everything was going well until one day out of nowhere it stopped working, only returning 0’s as the level. [Peter] took a look and found that I slug had made its way into the electronics enclosure and slimed up the traces on the PCB, causing short circuits.To fix the problem [Peter] decided to redesigned the system. This time it would be built into an all-weather electrical box. The system uses a standard hobby ultrasonic range finder to measure the distance from the top of the tank to the level of the water. Two holes cut into the electrical box allow the sender/receiver components to peek outside of the enclosure. Any gaps were then filled with sealant. [Peter] also added a thermistor to measure the temperature inside the tank.The sensor values are read by an Arduino and sent wirelessly to [Peter]’s computer via a pair of XBee’s and a second Arduino with an ethernet shield. The data are sent in 3 minute intervals and automatically stored in a MySQL database for quick reference of level and temperature trends. Now [Peter] can monitor his rain water remotely and adjust his usage habits accordingly. Want to read more about water tanks? Check out this overflow monitor system.

Man Made Rainbow Uses ONLY Sunlight And Rainwater

This rainbow is and is not natural. It’s the product of rainwater and sunlight so in that respect it’s natural. But as you can see, it’s not raining. This is an art installation that uses captured rainwater, stored solar electricity, and irrigation equipment to float a heavy blanket of mist in the air. The prismatic effects of the suspended water particles separate the sunlight into various bands by wavelength and a rainbow springs into existence.

We’ve done this before with a garden hose in the back yard. It might be fun to try to build a version that recycles the water as this does, perhaps using a rain barrel as a reservoir. It would certainly be much easier than pulling off that water-based 3-D display we’ve been meaning to undertake.

[Thanks Xb0xGuru]