Thank you for your measage. Makes me greatful for the weather in my area. I know I hate the winter coming but the other 3 seasons are not bad at all. We are told in the North-East to expect a very cold winter this year (season).
Stush.
Just put another log on the fire.

My winter is Summer. We get used to the weather we have. I am grateful I do not have to shovel snow and I maintain a killer winter vegetable garden full of SNOW peas and greens. I usually have water for it. I have discovered the wonders of grey water recycling. That is what I do instead of shoveling. I move water.

The nice thing about droughts, NO MOSQUITOS, but the flies go for the moisture around the house. The wildlife does come begging, even the ones you don't like.

You have a great system for water collection.
I love the look of water. Even if it may be too much.
Right now in the high desert of CA we are in a serious drought.
Can only water a few days a week and are restricted to certain
hours. Our back yard is now back to the peaceful browns and
tans of the desert. Cacti are doing well, even the sans outside
are actually thriving with the watering allowed.
I can't remember now when we had El Niño and lil sis.
Those were the days!
Karen

This post was edited by Enterotoxigenic00 on Mon, Aug 25, 14 at 12:07

Oh wow! That's what my gutters looked like last night! The buckets were pouring, but too dark to get a picture.

The thing that really gets me is Florida does not have a way of saving the summer water for the winter droughts. It's always quick - drain the swamp! Then starting in December they'll cry about a water shortage.

Karen, Austin has been on water restrictions for decades now. Right now, they have one day a week watering in the evenings on your assigned day and they are thinking of making ALL outdoor watering verboten soon. Washing your car is verboten now too. Heavy fines if you water illegally or have water drain off over sidewalks and down the street. The loophole is that hand holding a hose is still allowed, so the wealthier hire people to hand water their gardens . ALSO they are digging wells and are not covered under the municipal rules. Texas water laws about ground water is if you own the land , then it is the law of capture. They have had some really juicy rainstorms this summer in Austin and east, but the reservoir that they draw from is west and they have not gotten the rain for years now. It is down to 33% and still dropping. We are in a huge growth spurt of new developments that want to draw out of the lake too. It is crazy.

Towns around Austin are at level 4 drought restrictions and have outlawed all watering. It changes from town to town, even what the different levels mean. Kinda like the weather passing over our heads.

The Rice Farmers downstream have given up on one crop a year out of two. They have been denied the water out of the lake.

Wantonamara, Wow! I mean HIJOLE! !! Now those are buckets! Well i have to say we are praying for water over here for sure, but i kind of like it because cacti & succulents have really taken center stage lately and more popular.
Right now my rain barrel is looking dry, i also discovered grey water which citrus trees love, i read an article about grey water titled , from the the washer to the garden. And it works FABULOUS! .

Right now the weather calls for some type of storms monsoon Weather, so let's see what happens and I'll be sure to fill you in with the results of that.

Crenda, catch the rain that flows down from the roof and line up a barrel so that it falls right in it, it works for me :)

Karen, I can almost relate to you but I know your in a dryer climate than me have you guys had any rain lately, I've been hearing about a lot of flooding in the deserts?

Stush my man, how you doing... did I read that correctly, another log in the fire ?
Wow! Just how long you been living up there in that cold climate? Brrrr...

So long folks, Greg

Yeah Greg, greywater is great. We really needmore people to get on board with that. It is just an enormous amount of water.

I am lucky with the grey water. All of my bathroom SINKS, shower and half my kitchen ( separate sinks) is separate from the rest that goes to the septic. It all comes out from under the house conveniently in a pipe. I hear that people have installed small pumps in their bathtubs to pump it out the window. I heard this one lady who was pumping out her bathtub and watering her lawn during the BIG DROUGHT was arrested for having a green lawn. She was in an area where all watering was not allowed. She had to prove that her set up was recycling Bath water. She succeeded and got a writ up in the news. I am in the market for another Large rain tank . I am hoping for 3000 gallons . My shop porch is 15' X 70' of uncollected roof space.

Wow Wanto,
We are built on a cement slab and placement of appliances
and fixtures are not set up for easy access to drainage.
We have also been in a drought for several years but not
with the restrictions and fines as there are now. Friends
and neighbors are encouraged to report those using H2O
when not their day, have excess run off or not within the
allowed times. $$$$
We've learned to conserve and recycle whenever possible.
Hijole, darn, we are not in a rain area so not floods for us
(at this time). We are in a flood zone.
Try getting flood insurance.
When we first moved here it rained hard and for days.
The freeways were closed, people were floating down the
roads in canoes. My car took off and floated with me and
kids in the car! And that was from in front of our house!
We had fun.
Karen

We built our house and shop and we chose post and beam because being on our feet all day ,and the wood floor saves on our old knees . We we were able to think ahead to the time where grey water collection and things like that could be handled easily. We designed for that eventuality. BELIEVE me when I say this is not a thought out hi tec system. Most of the time the pipe just dumps it into the "wet zone". But when I need it I can switch over to the ol' rubbermaid and 5 gallon containers. I was amazed how much I collected. I hover around it when others took showers. Talk about a water nazi. We almost ran out of water in February and it was only from switching over to grey water collection that we made it through to the gully washers in late spring.

They call it grey water but really with as much coffee as we drink in this house , we need to call it brown water. I have divided the kitchen sink between the sink to wash and the rinse sink as to where the drain goes to..

{{gwi:605904}}

Wow Karen, that sounds extreme, and as they say when it rains it pours. It's funny sometimes there are some areas around here as in 15 20 minuets away from m my place and it gets flooded but not one single drop at my place.

Wantonamara, nice planning... sounds like you guys planed it all out just right.

Ok guys let's hear it for grey water, it gets the job done and hurts no one. Talk about a nice way to water and feed your garden.

Greg

WE really cut down the water usage when one gets up close and personal like with picking it up and carrying it on a daily basis. Saving water meant less to carry to the garden, Hmmmmm.. No more letting the water run when brushing teeth. The water got turned on and off in showers too. We became positively third world when the water got short. I started staying down wind from people. It was bad. We prayed for the spring rains . Our winter had given us about 3" from November to May. On the other side of my hill about 1/2 mile got over 5 ". all in quick downpours, no drizzle. The amount of weather stations on my neighborhood is amazing ( 5 in 2 miles). It really feeds my obsession.