Opinion of "Rainwater Harvesting, Vol 1" and other rain water harvesting books

We will put in rainbarrels or maybe a cistern for the 2 gutters in our house on a 1/4 acre lot in outer SE Portland, Oregon.

We want to do a good job and must be very economical.

I would like recommendations about good books on the subject.

Are there definitive books? Excellent introductory books? Etc.?

Are these practical to check out of the library, or is it really best to have the book around long-term, to be able to write in it, dogear pages, brainstorm, reflect, incubate ideas, reread parts, etc.?

Specifically, what do you think of Brad Lancaster's book Rainwater Harvesting, Vol 1

It is on sale until May 31 at Chelsea Green, the publisher: http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/rainwater_harvesting_vol_1_second_edition:paperback

I want to decide by then if this is a wise purchase. We cannot waste money.

Thank you for sharing your ideas, thoughts, experiences, etc.

Happiness, Health, Peace and Abundance for All!

Many Thanks and Many Blessings,
Pamela Melcher

If you have a limited budget, I'd skip Volume 1 which is mostly theory, and go straight to Volume 2 which is details about implementation. I have both but Volume 2 is more actually useful to own.

Thanks, Tyler,

It sounded, from Chelsea Green's description, that Vol 2 was about large scale earthworks, ponds, swales, etc. From their catalog:

"Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond Vol. 2
Water-Harvesting Earthworks

The second book in the series of Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands talks about Earthworks and how they are one of the easiest, least expensive, and most effective ways of passively harvesting and conserving multiple sources of water in the soil."

It sounds from your comments like that is not a good description of the book. I cannot look at it at a bookstore.

We are just on 1/4 acre of mostly level land, and simply want to put in rainbarrels or a cistern and do a good job. We want to focus our expenses closely on what we are trying to do. We have other permaculture things going on that are also in our budget.

The sale price is enticing, but we do not want to spend money on something that goes way beyond what we really need.

Thanks so much for your replies today!

Blassings,
Pamela Melcher

Blessings. I thought I had proofread.

Sorry, I'm a poor reader! the books are primarily about earthworks, but not necessarily large scale, they are also suitable for urban yards. Neither book has significant information about rain tanks. The 3rd book planned will be about tanks and cisterns. I used "Rainwater Collection for the Mechanically Challenged" by Suzy Banks which looks to be no longer in print (not sure though).

Since budget is a prime factor, try this free download (89 pages)

Texas Rainwater Harvesting Manual

Do a quick scan of it to see if it is all you need. They take water seriously in Texas!


EDITED to update link to the PDF. (John Polk)

Big thanks, John, I will check it out.

I love the folks on this forum!

You are good friends

Thanks to Tyler, also!!!

Thanks for remembering that one, John (not a good brain day for me!)....

Yeah. That little booklet is about as good as you're going to find without digging into the wallet.

John Polk wrote:Since budget is a prime factor, try this free download (89 pages)

"Texas Rainwater Harvesting Manual"

Do a quick scan of it to see if it is all you need. They take water seriously in Texas!

so - i realize the above was THREE years ago - but this stuff is TIMELESS, and since I'm working on a rainbarrel project at my J-O-B, I can finally spend some time poking around. NO surprise - I found ANSWERS!!! (without even having to post my questions...)

thank you, John Polk, and everyone else who contributes to this community!

Laura Emil wrote:

John Polk wrote:
"Texas Rainwater Harvesting Manual"

...this stuff is TIMELESS, and since I'm working on a rainbarrel project at my J-O-B, I can finally spend some time poking around. NO surprise - I found ANSWERS!!!

I went to download it, and had problems with the link no longer working. After googling, it seems like it's moved here:
"Texas Rainwater Harvesting Manual"

Yeah. I just realized that the old link no longer worked.
I updated the link so that it now links to the 3rd Edition.

Great little freebie.