With a two year educational effort, Brown County Extension agents report that to date, development of rain water collection systems in Brown County have a capacity of over 100,000 gallons.
Extension agent Scott Anderson explained that Billy Kniffen, Extension Program Specialist for Water Resources, has helped educate Brown County residents that are interested in how to harvest rainwater. Kniffen himself lives in Menard, on a property with no well or public water supply and has learned to adapt his lifestyle to live with just the rainwater harvested on his property.
For every 1 inch of rainfall, 0.6 gallons per square inch of roof can be collected. In Brown County, the harvest capacity is now over 100,000 and according to Anderson, may triple if local industry joins into the effort.
“The result, through education, there are people who collectively gather rainwater and it is growing,” stated Anderson.Anderson explained that those involved in this rainwater harvesting are gathering rainfall from their roofs, which is carried through a gutter system into a holding tank which keeps sunlight off of the water to keep it fresh and then it is filtered and chlorinated before use in the residences.
Kniffen has authored a manual “Rainwater Harvesting: System Planning” that is available online.
In an article in AgriLife News, by Steve Burns, Kniffen is quoted:
“The manual is designed to assist designers and installers of rainwater collection systems in properly planning, sizing, installing and using rainwater for inside and outside use,” Kniffen said. “The rainwater harvesting business could easily become a sideline or new career for such people as engineers, contractors, roofers and plumbers seeking added income or a complete change of work.”
According to the Brown County Extension office, there are currently two major rainwater harvesting systems in Brown County, one being the Brownwood Area Community Garden and another on a property in southern Brown County, near Brookesmith. Other smaller systems are located within the county at private residences.
