Greywater Resources & Rain Gardens

GREYWATER

There are many community organizations in Marin to support you should you choose to  convert par of your water usage  to grey water. Grey water  refers to water that has been reclaimed from laundry, kitchen or garden use and reused for toilet flushing, garden watering and other second tier uses. Sometimes the water is filtered and captured into a holding container of some kind.The water can also flow directly from one source to another as in the case of landscape water usage. (See below for resource list.)

RAIN(WATER) GARDENS

In permaculture the water mantra is Slow it, Spread it, and Sink it.

Before the advent of pavement, roadways and culverts, our rainwater for the most part, percolated back into the soil filling the aquifers, creating humidity and maintaining high rain fall through evaporation of the moisture laden soils. Once we began to pave and cement over our surfaces, water that was once destined for the soil and fish-filled creeks was diverted into singular tributaries which created not only increased run-off, but high velocity run-off. Why does speed matter? Our fisheries require water speeds that the returning salmon and trout can swim against. When you add the pollutants that come with run-off - motor oil, detergent, human waste, fertilizers etc, the water becomes dangerous. Fish can't repopulate. Ground water does not resaturate. Run-off actually CAUSES drought by removing moisture from soils and thus decreasing evaporation. So what can we do? Create a rain garden! It is fun, beautiful and gives your soil a recharge.

BEST WRITTEN GUIDEBOOK

Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and beyond, Volumes 1,2, & 3 by Brad Lancaster 'Turn water scarcity into water abundance! These books show you how to conceptualize, design, and implement sustainable water-harvesting systems for your home, landscape, and community." Check out his webpage for excellent overview and more information: Harvesting Rainwater

COMMUNITY CLASSES 

check out the home pages of these organizations to find out when they are holding greywater and rainwater classes and tours :

SPAWN (Salmon Protection and Watershed Network) Webpage

Sustainable Fairfax Webpage

Greywater Action Network

ROOF WATER HARVESTING SUPPLIES & GUTTER SCREENS

First Flush & Downspout Diverters

More First Flush Down Spout Diverters

Rain Tubes

Rainwater Harvesting Network

Cisterns from Watertanks.com

Water Catchments from Fairfax Lumber.com

Cisterns from Urbanfarmerstore.com

Buy cisterns in bulk from SPAWN

Cisterns from Rainwaterhog.com

LIST Of WEBSITES

SPAWN's Water Conservation Webpage Click Here

SPAWN's Rooftop Rainwater Harvesting Incentives Program and survey Click Here.

Rainwater Harvesting by Oasis  Oasis Water Harvesting offers an attractive rainwater collection and storage system, specifically designed to meet the demands of the desert gardener.

Harvest H 2 0  HarvestH2o.com is dedicated to the advancement of sustainable water management practices for individuals, families, communities, and businesses.

Harvesting Rainwater  The definitive guide to everything sustainable about water: courses, books, lectures. The host of the site is considered one of the current age's founding fathers of water conservation.