We are experiencing wetter winters and scorching summers as global warming continues. This is causing floods in the cold seasons and droughts in the hotter seasons across countries, and it will become commonplace in the future. As water shortages are inevitable and water bills will rocket up, it is wise to invest in a rain catching system so we can avoid flooding, paying higher bills in the future for watering our garden and reduce our carbon footprint.

It is possible to catch 24,000 litres of water from our roofs a year and the cost of a rain catching system can be as low as £35. Having a rain catching system saves money on your water bill during the summer, and it is estimated to reduce your annual water bill by 10-50%. Sally Nex’s book ‘How to Garden the Low Carbon way’ shows a few devices we can use to catch water and save money watering our garden in the summer.

Water butts and rain saucers

Two devices that can catch a large amount of rainwater are water butts and rain saucers. Water butts are a popular and effective way to catch water. They come in all shapes and sizes and vary in price. You can even connect a few water butts together to maximise how much rain you collect. Rain saucers are like water butts but catch rain with an ‘inverted’ umbrella and feed into any free-standing container. They do not need to be connected to a down pipe and are similar in price.

Rain harvester

Rain harvesters are a more expensive system of catching rain and require being put underground in your garden. Rain harvesters are large tanks which collect and store rainwater underground that would otherwise flow down the gutters into the drain. Rain harvest systems can prevent flooding and possibly make it easier to get planning permission as planners favour environmentally friendly applications. Rain harvest systems can also be used for ‘grey water’ in the house. Grey water is water used in the household for non-drinking purposes such as the washing machine and toilet flushing. This will further reduce your annual water bill by 50% and cut the carbon emissions from water use as it uses rainwater for more uses than just watering the garden. It is fine to use rainwater for washing machines and toilets because it is soft, limescale free water. Although a rain harvesting system costs in the region of £2500, it makes much more use of rainwater than any other rain catching system.

Dipping ponds

If your biggest concern is flooding in your garden, a dipping pond can be used to reduce and manage flooding in your garden when there are storms. A dipping pond is a small depression in the ground. It is placed near a downpipe, where a small trail is created towards a dip in the ground. Then another trail is created on the other side of the pond and drains water to other parts of the garden. The shape of dipping pond does not matter, but if it you want it to drain water to other parts of the garden, then it is best to have an oval shape dipping pond. In the middle of the pond, you can put plants for biodiversity to thrive in the shallow pond. A dipping pond can be combined with water butts to reduce the amount of rainwater flooding the garden.