Sécheresse 2022

[MAD87]

That's a joke, yes? In Lot et Garonne, the Préfecture has banned agriculteurs from constructing more reservoirs. I wonder if the idiots who decided that are having a re-think now?
[/quote] Same here in Haute-Vienne. Let's hope the 9-4 "green" desk jockeys are catapulted out of their jobs into the nearest (dried up) puddle.

[Spectrum]

I think I mentioned this on another thread, Imm of rain over one square meter = 100Lts I have 200 m2 of roof connected up, it was supposed to be 400 m2 but thanks to the arsehole artisans they put it all into a soakaway "A lost well" as they call it. The idea of all new houses having to collect rainwater and re-use is a good idea, I cannot use my water inside the house, it stinks there is no filter system so anything on the roof gets washed into the tank, and we have a lot of sparrows nesting under the tiles, so poo and perhaps the odd body will find its way to the tank, but hey the plants love it, I have to be careful of the wind direction

[L Austin France]

I think I mentioned this on another thread, Imm of rain over one square meter = 100Lts

I'm sure you meant "I mm of rain over one square meter =1 litre"

[niemeyjt]

You can buy 1000 litre IBC - the 1m x 1m x 1m plastic cubes in a metal cage that can be lifted by forklift.

I bought some of these and put them on some pallets to raise them up to get a watering can under the spout.

TIP 1: Buy them steam-cleaned so there are no nasties inside

TIP 2: Buy black ones rather than clear as this will reduce algal growth.

[Hotrodder]

Black ones not freely available here so I painted mine. The paint lasted less than a year. A little algae growth inside colours the water a bit but the plants don't mind. The cube cost me €75 but only came with a screwed cap on the outlet. I had to get a valve from UK ebay at £15 to complete the ensemble. I should have bought two of the cubes at the time. Buying one now I wouldn't be able to get it off the trailer without buying in some labour.

[Polarengineer]

I would think that the subject of rainwater collection has been studied and meeting the natural balance of water movement has many variables. Home rain tanks remove natural run off to the rivers, so if everyone collected the rain, the rivers would suffer. Using the water on your garden will see most of it evaporate, either naturally or through transpiration of the plants, again not reaching the rivers. My living plan has included treating all waste water through a reed bed and into a large pond. The pond is used by the ducks and the water can be used to water the garden although most of it overflows into the soil to find its way back to the river. The river near me is at its lowest at the moment and I see no rain forcast for the next three weeks. The next step will be to consume much less water by the use of dry toilets, very short showers and as I clean the car once a year, I am already ahead.
I was planning to pump water to the house from a natural spring nearby on my land, but this may soon not be permitted by the authorities due to the above reasoning.

[exile]

Th cubes are made from High Density Polyethylene and this takes paint very badly - as @Hotrodder has found out.

Intercepting rain water will not have the major impacts that @Polarengineer suggests.

There will of course be some effect but that water is not retained indefinitely.

It goes onto the garden so that when it does rain, the soil is already moist and will become saturated more quickly. Run off will occur sooner.

Large parts of centres of habitation are not in a position to install rainwater capture, without blocking pavements, alleys or road. Underground storage is equally impractical, since the only space is under the roads or under the buildings, many of which already have cellars, so you would have to go very deep.

[Spectrum]

I think I mentioned this on another thread, Imm of rain over one square meter = 100Lts

I'm sure you meant "I mm of rain over one square meter =1 litre"

Oops

[rabbit]

Well a drought. It seems now to be a regular phenomenon and the signs are it isn’t going to get any better soon. Maybe governments should be building more reservoirs to store the hivernal rain before it becomes really serious

That's a joke, yes? In Lot et Garonne, the Préfecture has banned agriculteurs from constructing more reservoirs. I wonder if the idiots who decided that are having a re-think now?

why would they ban reservoirs when the rest of the population are being told to conserve it. What is the reason for that decision?

[Quiksilver]

No idea! I strongly suspect it is to do with someone, somewhere seeing an opportunity for the State to claw in more money