Rainwater is a vital resource for growing and thriving in the desert.
Here’s how to capture it.
-
Most soil in southern AZ looks like this…
Dry as a bone a couple inches down, even after heavy rainfall
-
…because your rainwater is just running off!
Overwhelming city infrastructure instead of sinking into soil
12,000
Gallons Per Year
That’s how much rainwater an average, 3-bedroom Phoenix house can capture (2,400 sq ft roof).
Use Google Earth to find your roof’s area, and a free rainfall calculator to multiply it by our 8” of annual rainfall to see what you can capture.
The 3 Critical Steps
Whether you’re hiring us or doing it yourself, this is the proven process.
1. Design Your System
Before laying spade to soil, determine where your utilities run.
From there you know where not to dig, and you can start planning your basins, trenches/footpaths, seating areas, ground-level gardens, etc.
Don’t worry — it’s a lot, and we’re here to help make it easy.
2. Create Basins
The best place to store water is in the ground. Dig basins anywhere you don’t have utility lines, and you’ll sink hundreds of gallons of water deep into your soil—keeping it moist for months after a single storm.
You can also install tanks to store additional water. We like to use basins and tanks in combination when client budgets allow.
3. Install Gutters & Pipes
To capture as much rain as possible. in your basins & tanks, design and build a gutter system before the next storm.
We only recommend & install seamless gutters, which will last a lifetime. The store-bought DIY ones tend to fall apart after just a few monsoons.
Do this now, and you’ll be fast-tracking the process of reestablishing groundwater and growing massively successful gardens and food forests!