Torrential rain

[fatbob]

Hi everyone, I've been lurking for a little while now so thought it was time to say hello to you all.  I've been nuturing an interest (read obsession) in RWH for a while now, and it seems like I have found a nice sanctuary of fellow enthusiasts !  I'm using RWH to water/irrigate the garden at the moment, and plan at some point to plumb in the house loos once I have enough tank capacity.

Must confess I have become a little OCD with the weather forecasts this summer, but it drives me nuts when I keep on being promised torrential rain and the best we get is a light drizzle !  Allegedly we are due a good rain dump tonight, but there again it was promised for yesterday, and the day before I seem to recall.  I'm based in central Berks and have suffered near drought conditions most of the summer, there's been hardly any rainfall to speak of until the past couple of weeks.  When the rain does come, it's generally all in one go in a very short time, which is a challenge also.  I've been upgrading my system bit by bit every year to collect and store more rainfall, but there always seems to be something more to do !

Anyways, I was wondering how you all are coping with the weather and lack of (or excess of) rain this summer ?

[Amy]

Yo Slim, welcome.

No lack of rain here, cant wait for summer to get started

By the way, 'Nurture' has an 'r' in it.

I wouldnt normally be so rude as to pull anyone up on their spelling but there is a new wave of political correctness afoot and we should all strive to help one another learn to spell proper

If your realy kinky about weather, might I suggest a great book.

'The wrong kind of snow'

[Contadino]

We've had no rain since mid-April, which is pretty bad for these parts.  Plus, we have no mains water, so things are looking a tad 'Jean de Florette'.  I appreciate what you mean by obsessing about the forecasts - I did the same for several years.  Nowadays I don't even bother reading them, primarily because they're so often wrong, but also because there's nothing I can do about the weather so there's no point fretting.

All around my neighbourhood, everyone's tomatoes are finished, the beans are coming to an end, and only people with water left have peppers & aubergines.  Similarly, normally people have 2nd batches of zucchini and cucumbers on the go by this stage of the summer, but very few people have bothered this year because everyone's cisterns are low.

I had great hopes for our new grey water bed, but the temperatures have been exceptionally high, so a lot of stuff is scorched.  I'm going to have to change it from trench irrigation to a drip pipe system before next summer.

[Amy]

Ive got that film and watch it often.
 
J'adore

[fatbob]

Thanks guys, no mains water and no rain since Apr wow  that puts my rainfall concerns to shame !

hehe I must admit to having a couple of Jean De Florette moments this summer - running out to look at black rainclouds then getting just a couple of 'fat' raindrops for my trouble.  Then later the missus who is working 2 miles down the road telling me it caned it down there and flooded their office car park !

Anyways tonight is looking promising http://www.metcheck.com/V40/UK/FREE/warnings.asp "Attention is currently focused on an area of heavy rain that is expected to move in across southwest England during Sunday evening, before affecting many central, southern and eastern parts of England during Sunday night and Monday morning. There is the potential for over an inch (25mm) of rain to fall in many places, with perhaps over 2 inches (50mm) of rain falling in some areas. This will bring hazardous travelling conditions and the risk of some localised flash flooding."

Ahem. Must. Not. Obsess. About. Rain.    2 inches would be nice tho.

I do need to look again at my guttering, it does sometimes overspill in heavy rain.  Always seems a shame to lose that lovely water when it does.  A rain harvesters work is never done eh 

[Contadino]

We're kinda geared for the weather though. 100,000 ltrs of underground storage. Ironically, rainwater is generally more reliable than mains water here.  Towns are often reduced to standpipes, mains water is very expensive, and the quality is constantly deteriorating.  Boreholes are fed from two water tables - one at about 200m, and one at about 400m.  The higher of the two is now proving unreliable - as in it ran dry in July this summer.  Still, at least all those holiday homes have full swimming pools. 

[rogeriko]

Same here in Greece no rain since march and we have 80,000 litres tank under the house. It usually lasts till the rain in oct-nov. All summer only endless sun beating down on the poor solar panels.

[dhaslam]

This has been a dry summer in Ireland but still only about two weeks in June without rain.   There is a steady supply almost all of the time.

There is quite an ingenius   system proposed to supply water to Dublin.   Part of a cutaway bog in eastern Offaly is to be turned into a huge lake  that will be topped up from the lower Shannon,  but only when the river it is in flood.    The area of the lake will be sufficient to supply  the capital without big fluctuations in level and  can be used for watersports.    Of course the complainers are already objecting  but it sounds like a sensible solution  to the problem.     The eastern side of the country is  quite lacking in suitable inland  water for watersports and a lake big enough for sailing  in that area would be easily accessible to  the growing residential  areas to the west of the city.   

[fatbob]

@dhaslam - that's some good info you have there, assume you have some kind of home weather station system ?  Wish I had such a steady spread of rainfall, it would make things so much easier !  I think I had two decent falls of rain between May and Jul, both very heavy and overwhelmed the guttering I have at present.  The rest of the time any rainfall barely damped down the roof tiles, let alone anything enough to bother the tanks 

Respect to you guys with the massive cisterns - more than a little envious there.  Trying to picture 100 IBC's in my back garden... not sure I'd have the space somehow...

@Amy - If you're waiting for summer to start you must be the opposite end of the world to me?  Re: the spelling / technical pendants, I was a little worried whether litres should be l or L...  However since my discovery of Claude Émile Jean-Baptiste Litre, I'm happy to use L    I will also check out that book, thank you !

Back to the rain tho, since my rant on Sunday it hasn't stopped raining since...  tanks are full and I'm back to planning the installation of the next IBC, it will sit on top of the existing one, so I'm currently looking at pumps, float switches, relays, battery and solar charger, and of course all the plumbing to go with it.  Confession - had to top up the existing tanks from mains twice over this summer... and that really grates !