MNN.COM›MNN BLOGGERS›

Matt Hickman's Blog

Matt Hickman

Extreme residential rainwater harvesting

Meet 'Rain Man' Jerry Block of Mount Sereno, Calif. whose backyard rainwater harvesting system can collect 20,000 gallons annually.
Wed, Sep 02 2009 at 11:15 AM EST
Read more: GARDENING , HOME IMPROVEMENT, WATER CONSERVATION

By now you’re probably aware of or a practitioner of rainwater harvesting — the act of collecting rainwater, usually with a rain barrel or two, and using the water to tend to your lawn and/or garden — but have you heard of rainwater hoarding?
 
Neither had I until The Los Angeles Times profiled Jerry Block, a retired anesthesiologist whose intricate backyard rainwater harvesting setup is capable of collecting around 20,000 gallons of rainwater a year. That’s a whole lot of rainwater.
It may seem excessive but self-sufficient Block isn’t just tending to an ordinary residential garden. His goal is to completely irrigate, for an entire year, an acre of land at his Monte Sereno, California, home that he uses for food production. Block hopes to collect enough rainwater during rainy season with his system of four giant holding tanks and special gutters so that using non-rainwater on his crops isn’t even an option during the rest of the year. 
 
Says Block, who views his set-up as a “patriotic act” with geo-political significance:
 
We sized our system according to how much water we’d need to grow enough trees, fruits and vegetables for two people. We get about 15 inches of rain, and we live on an acre of land, so that works out to about 20,000 gallons of irrigation water per year.
 
As of now, Block only uses the collected rainwater for irrigation purposes but he's entertaining the idea of using it for toilets and possibly sitting up an inexpensive filtration system so that it can be used for bathing and drinking as well.
Block’s rainwater system was made by Gutterglove and Rain Harvesting Systems to the tune of $29,000. If you had the money, physical space, and didn’t mind the aesthetics of giant tanks on your property, would you install a similarly massive rainwater collection system for use around the lawn and garden and possibly in the home?  
Via [LA Times]
 
Photos: Robert Lenney
CLOSE link:
The opinions expressed by MNN Bloggers and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not reflect the opinions of MNN.com. While we have reviewed their content to make sure it complies with our Terms and Conditions, MNN is not responsible for the accuracy of any of their information.
« Previous
A real glass act		   Next »
Eco emergency shelters on the horizon

Comments(7)

Sort by:
Posted By EcoGrrl - Sun, Nov 01 2009 at 2:53 AM EST

Great example of r/w harvesting

I'm amazed at some of the comments - collecting rainwater will take the water out of the lakes and streams? Are you kidding me? Where do you think we get our water from in the first place, the ocean? Ignorance. And telling people to get water from air conditioners which are notoriously environmentally unfriendly in themselves? The subject of the article is just plain smart. And he has over an acre of property so these tanks aren't taking up "all of that" in his backyard. Amazing how much.... More

Posted By Carsen - Wed, Sep 16 2009 at 10:14 AM EST

Rainwater is the way

@Eric O:

Keep in mind that the potable water delivered to your house by the municipality is pulled out of the local watershed, be it streams, rivers, lakes, or groundwater. Using rainwater in lieu of potable water where possible greatly reduces the amount of energy required to gather, process, and distribute. In fact, the rivers and lakes in an area of extreme rainwater collection would have slightly more consistent and higher water levels than without collection. This is because less.... More

Posted By Eric O - Mon, Sep 07 2009 at 8:33 PM EST

Matt's Folly

If more people stored water like Matt, we would have no water in the lakes and steams.

Posted By Just Green Homes - Thu, Sep 03 2009 at 9:41 PM EST

Second investment could be much smaller.

It's incredible that Jerry spent so much to irrigate his gardens! Luckily for many of us we could set up a system to supply our toilets and (smaller) gardens for much, much less, but save almost as much water.

Posted By Dripwater - Thu, Sep 03 2009 at 10:42 AM EST

Extreme Residential Rain Water Harvesting

Approximately the same amount of water (50 GPD) can be collected from a large residential air conditioner, without the need to filter and have massive storage. Current central air conditioners with efficiencies of 16-18 SEER, produce up to 5 gallons of water per ton, per day, and condensate is produced on both cooling and heating cycles, year round. Air conditioner condensate is available every day, not just if it rains, and therefore does not require huge storage tanks and can be used as.... More

Posted By JeanK - Wed, Sep 02 2009 at 8:19 PM EST

Extreme Residential Rain Water Harvesting

Jerry, You are truly a patriot and obviously "know" what's coming down the pike! We pray blessing over you and yours. How I envy what you have been able to accomplish. Trust me, if I had the money and property to do what you have done, guess what, we would be able to eat for a long while!!!!!!!!
I pray you will be like the man who asked for a glass of water and never gave it a thought but graciously gave what he had!!!! Blessing over you and may His face shine upon you. Stay well,.... More

Posted By EastSideChick - Wed, Sep 02 2009 at 5:58 PM EST

that picture

is amazing. i wouldn't personally like all of that in my backyard, but I admire what he's doing. why shouldn't he?

Add your comment

You can’t fool Mother Nature
This question is for testing whether you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Image CAPTCHA