permaculture

["Forest Garden" <forestgarden@gvtc.com>]

A question I would have is; how long do you plan on being there?  If this is
a short term living place, well economics probably are an important factor -
although such an addition could increase the property value.

There are other non-ecomonic variables to consider.  The quality of the
water is a consideration - rainwater is so good for plants.  Also, I feel
there is tremendous uncertainty in the coming years (well, actually it is
already here) - there is definately going to be an energy descent of some
kind which will mean most methods of obtaining water will either be too
expensive or non-existant.  In my mind, water is too critical an element to
be worrying about payback times.  Especially since this is where we plan on
living for the rest of our lives.

We built a 35,000 gallon collection and storage system here in Central Texas
where 6 month droughts are the norm, and longer ones expected.  The general
consensus in our area is this is minimally/reasonably sufficient for a
family of four; domestic use, gardens, and orchard.

Good luck.  Trying to decide how best to use money for sustainability
projects is quite a challenge!

Marjory




----- Original Message -----
From: "Charles de Matas" <cdematas@hotmail.com>
To: <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2006 12:10 PM
Subject: [permaculture] rainwater collection


> <<The bottom line is that such an approach will takesome 5 years for me to
> recoup my costs.  which strikes me as quite a long time
>
> Any thoughts from anybody out there who faced similar dillemmas>>
>
> What about the cost of connection to the public water supply? Have you
> considered that?
> I live on the caribbean island of Trinidad. I built a very small house
last
> year.  We have lots of rain during the rainly season but the dry season
> lasts about 4  months.  I reckon I can collect about 40 cu m. from my
roof.
>    For me to connect to the public water supply would cost a lot, since I
> would have to run pipes for several hundred metres.  Besides the public
> water supply here is often unreliable during the dry season, when it's
> needed most, and most people still have water tanks in the backyards.  It
> would be much cheaper for me to collect rainwater. I won't need much
water.
> I will use a humanure composting system instead of a flush toilet and use
> greywater to water plants.
>
> Charles.
> Trinidad.
>
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