You can appreciate how a properly installed roof protects your house, but it can also serve as a source of water that can be saved for the driest months.
If you’re concerned about your roof and the environment, read on to see how your roof can collect rainwater for your yard and fruit trees during the warmest and driest months.
This is important to know: rainwater harvesting off rooftops can work for residential and commercial buildings.
The Importance of Collecting Rainwater in the San Gabriel Valley
Water is a precious resource in Southern California and the San Gabriel Valley. Most of our rain falls from November to February. That’s when 10 inches to 12 inches of rain collects on average according to US Climate Data.com. But if you’ve lived in the area for any length of time, you know that the rain we receive can fluctuate wildly every few years.
Protect against drought years
We’re fortunate to get a decent few days of rain even during drought years. Here’s how much water runs off an average roof in the San Gabriel Valley during a good, soaking rain:
1 inch of rain on 1,000 square feet of roofing = 600 gallons of rainwater to collect.
Locally, our average rainfall is about 15 inches a year. In Altadena, along the highest slopes, about 18 inches of rain falls there normally.
The typical roof in our area is 2500 square feet.
That means you could harvest up to 22,500 gallons of rainwater.
Substantial, isn’t it?
If you had a fruit tree using 4 gallons a week, then you could easily supply a dozen or more fruit trees with water—even in dry years.
Save rain for dry times
A quality rainwater collection system will store the rainwater for months so you can use it during the spring and summer as rainfalls taper off. Plus, rainwater may be better than what your hose or even sprinklers supply.
Why do I say that?
Better than tap water for fruit trees and plants
Municipal water is treated chemically to prevent illness for people. But that’s not the best solution for fruit trees and flowers.
How a rainwater collection system works
Rainwater catchments are placed at the areas where rainwater pours through gutters and into downspouts. The water is diverted and flows through a filter and into the container.
Each container has a line to irrigate flowers, trees, native plants and even yards. Overflow from the container is channeled to where it can run off into a yard or street.
Containers are made from materials that reduce or eliminate the stored water’s exposure to sun as noted by the Environmental Protection Agency in its report on rainwater harvesting.
See more on the Garvey Roofing Rain Gutters page.
How Garvey Roofs are environmentally friendly
Collecting rainwater is one way that Garvey Roofing provides an environmentally friendly solution. We use materials on every roof installation that help your cooling and heating systems to be as energy efficient as possible in the summer and winter months.
Call us for your roof-related needs. Let’s see if rainwater harvesting will help your family save water and keep your yard, plants and trees flourishing and healthy.