Rainwater Harvesting Services

Think again! Many people in New Mexico live entirely off rainwater year-round.
Cactus Rain will help you use less water, harvest what is available, and use it more than once. 

Short answer... Generally, you can collect 0.6 gallons per 1 square foot of roof per 1 inch of rain. That means a 2,000 square foot roof will capture 1,200 gallons of rainwater from just 1 inch of rain. 

The longer answer is... it depends. 

Your roof type, slope, the temperature, and the size of the rain event can all affect the volume you can collect.

Depending on your goals, you may want to capture as much as you can, or only as much as you need. 

Contact us to size and design your rainwater harvesting system

Yep!

In a "dry" rainwater system, the water goes from gutters and downspouts into a tank without standing in the piping. In a wet system, water travels via an underground conveyance to the collection tank.

• Gutters (pitched roof) or Canales (flat roof)
• Downspouts
• Filters
• Barrels/ Tanks/ Cisterns
• • Light guard (to prevent algae)
  • Fittings, often 1", 1.5", or 2"
  • Level Gauge
    

• Pump (optional, depending on application)

Some upgrades to a barrel under a downspout:

• mesh filter or leaf eater to keep debris out
• light filter to prevent algae growth
• overflow outlet to a passive rain garden
• a pump to bring water inside, water the garden, or fill up other tanks

We take a holistic and integrated approach to designing effective rainwater harvesting systems in which passive and active water harvesting elements are designed and placed relative to other site elements to meet multiple needs, provide multiple benefits, and increase overall site sustainability and resiliency.

The cleanest part of the water is just below the surface. There might be debris floating on top, and there is definitely sediment in the bottom of the tank.

How much you filter water depends on the application. At a minimum you want to keep "gunk" out of your tank, and prevent critters or kids from getting in... but for irrigation only, you don't need to worry about treating water to potable standards. You also want to avoid creating a mosquito breeding tank!

• Pre-tank filter mesh keeps debris, leaves, etc. out of the tank. Filter mesh can be installed on gutters, on downspouts, at the top of tank, or all of the above. Filter mesh options are cheap, and a must have to keep stuff out of the tank! A Leaf Eater is an inexpensive option to put on downspouts.
  

• In tank options such as floating intake filters get the cleanest water  to keep debris out of the pump), sized to the GPM of the pump
• After tank 
• • in-line filter to keep fine debris out of an above-ground pump
  • disinfect for in-home uses

​

YES!
The most common sanitation treatment for rainwater systems in Ultra-violet (UV) light treatment. Reverse Osmosis, Ozone treatment, and a few others are less common than UV for whole-house treatment.

You can fill a bucket or send water downhill using a hose without a pump, because gravity gives you a bit of pressure.

If you need to lift water above the tank, deliver it on level via an irrigation system, or send it to household fixtures, it needs added pressure. That's where the pump comes in. 

Your choice of pump will be driven primarily by how much flow you need.

• Booster pump
• A Variable Frequency Drive (VFD), also known as a constant pressure pump, will spin the motor up to meet the demand of the water usage and reduce the motor speed as needed. VFDs will give consistent, higher pressure, and flow rates up to 32 gpm.  A quality option like the DAB ESYBOX DIVER will cost $2,000-$3,000, though some are less - more like $900 range when made of plastic parts rather than stainless steel. 
• Single speed, submersible, on-demand type pumps are less expensive, around $1,000 for a high quality option like the DAB 2-45/90. These are not variable speed, so we might add an expansion tank to limit the number of starts and stops. They can deliver 10-12 gpm.
  

For the extra cost, VFDs have several advantages, including energy savings, longer life, and higher flow rates.

• • Uses a minimum amount of energy -  VFD pumps only run the motor at the speed that is needed to meet the demand for water.
  • Reduces motor starting current - allows the motor to gradually ramp up to meet the actual flow and pressure demand within the range of the pump's performance capabilities.
• Provides a degree of motor protection
• Cuts the wear and tear on the motor
• Simplifies the design of the flow control system
• Provides extensive diagnostics
• Reduces the required maintenance

Hard to say... it depends on how clean or dirty the water is. If you notice a drop in pressure on the discharge, time to check the carbon filter/ cartridge. Most people change them at least once a year, but actual mileage may vary :)

We don't clean tanks unless something has gone very wrong. 

The biofilm on the inside of the tank and sludge layer at the bottom of the tank are a healthy - indeed critical - part of the rainwater harvesting ecosystem. These  act like a bioremediation to bioaccumulate all kinds of yuckies and toxins, even things like lead! (Nature-based solutions) - 

So, we leave it!

One large tank, optimized based on supply and demand metrics.

• Assembling lots of little tanks can cost as much or more as one big one, once you get all the plumbing and fittings.
• Bioremediation works better in larger tanks.
• Bad stuff tends to grow in the pipes that connect the lots of little tanks.

• Undersizing storage - or else not having a passive raingarden for overflow.
• Not collecting the whole roof area - why not?
• Not protecting from freezing
• Creating a mosquito breeding ground (use mesh screen!)
• Not keeping the design as simple as possible - don't put storage far away from catchment