Sustainability starting at home

We can probably all say that we recycle glass, plastics, paper etc, and a lot of us will use compost bins, but how many of us think about the ways we recycle the water at our homes?... And by this I mean the external water, the water that we see a lot, particularly in the U.K... I'm talking about rainwater. 

The Hawthorne International Hostel in Portland where I stayed during my 5 days in North Oregon inspired me with its simple design for rainwater harvesting, that could be used by so many other households. 

The hostel reckons that Portland's average rainfall of 37 inches a year generates about 10 billion gallons of runoff. Rainwater that isn't properly managed can wash pollutants from streets into watercourses, and cause flooding and erosion. The Hawthorne Hostel Rainwater Management Project aims to use some of this water to reduce runoff as well as using natural processes to filter and gradually release the water into the ground. 

Sections of the roof are vegetated, and these capture and retain about 60% of the annual rainfall that falls on them. In addition to this, they have two large planted tubs which can store 10 gallons of runoff from the conventional roof. Finally, there are two large concrete cisterns for storing all this water once it's been filtered by the planted roof and tubs. 

These cisterns supply the hostel with rainwater for non-potable uses such as toilets and irrigation. Any overflow from the cisterns is captured in swales where it is absorbed and filtered by plants and soaks into the soil. 

The hostel estimates that they save about 42,000 gallons of water per year... Just imagine if everyone did this. 

The advantages are not just in terms of cost:

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It provides a certain self-sufficiency to water supply, 

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The systems themselves are very simple and easy to construct and maintain in most cases, 

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It slows down water flow, contains potential floodwater and reduces spread of pollution, 

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The water is convenient and accessible, and value and time are saved in collecting/moving/treating water, and finally, 

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It will help to supply water to meet our future needs. 

Water harvesting... Think about it, maybe it would work for you.