Rainwater Harvesting- Have You Seen My Water Farm?

It is very likely that cavemen most likely collected water from rain fall. Old Western movies always had at least one rainwater barrel in the background. So I guess you could say, that Man has been harvesting water since before the beginning of recorded history. The idea of sticking something out there to catch the rain, so you can use it later was probably invented by someone, but you won't find their name in the Encyclopedia.

Since I live in Southern California, I often receive mail from the Department of water and power, telling me that I can't water my lawn, or wash my car because we're having a water shortage. Now if I had a rainwater barrel under the eves of my house collecting rainwater, I could use that to water my lawn, without fear of being hunted down by the water police.

Now I know they say it never rains in Southern California but during the winter season, it rained quite a bit. If I had had the foresight to just stick a barrel out there to collect water, I could still water my lawn.

now rainwater harvesting systems have come a long way in the last few hundred thousand years, the Australians came up with this idea of a Rainwater Hog. I kind of laughed when I first heard of that one, but if you check out this video, you'll see that it was actually a good idea.

So as you can see, this ancient art keeps evolving. I never really realized the importance of a device as simple as a rain barrel. The concept is simple-save water-use it later. It's not rocket science.

Here in Southern California, where it hardly ever rains, we complain during the rainy season, and wonder why we we have a water shortage. The answer is quite simple. All that water went down the storm drain and out into the ocean. In case you hadn't noticed the ocean doesn't really have a water shortage. The problem is, we fail to keep that water in a place where we could get back to it. Rainwater harvesting makes that possible.

So while it doesn't come under the jurisdiction of the Department of Agriculture, it does have an important part to play in places like Southern California. I'm embarrassed to admit, that I only learned of this term within the last few months. Currently in Southern California, it's a good one to know.