Before choosing and installing an overhead rainwater harvester, you will need to ask yourself a few questions to narrow down your choice:
How will I use the tank?
If you have a balcony or a garden with a vegetable patch and an orchard, your needs will be different and the size of the tank will have to be adapted. How much water will I need?
Watering a few pots and planters on a balcony, watering a vegetable garden for 4 people, watering flower beds, cleaning cars or watering an orchard do not require the same amount of daily water at all. You should also know that water, even locked up, evaporates under the effect of heat, so always plan to store more water than you need. Also take into account longer and more frequent heat periods which require more frequent watering. Is the rainfall sufficient to store water?
Depending on your region, rainfall is erratic. In the South, you can have heavy spring rains and then nothing until the fall. In this case, plan one or more water collectors installed on several roofs or choose a water reserve with a large volume in order to meet your needs all summer long. In rainy regions all year round, plan for medium-sized water collectors which will feed regularly with rainwater.
Does the surface of my roof allow me to install a water collector?
Even if rain collection systems are equipped with a system for redirecting water from the tank to the gutter if the container is full, adapt the reserve to the surface of your roof. Stormwater flow is not the same whether you have a garden shed, garage, barn or house.
In an apartment, you are not allowed to touch the exterior water pipes. You will have to ask the condominium for authorization to divert rainwater and the question of the size of the collector will have to be taken into account because when filled, the weight on a balcony can quickly be substantial.
Check these criteria carefully before buying a water collector. Next, you can choose your rainwater tank, in a range of colors as varied as green, taupe, sand or gray and original shapes, which will contain between 200 and more than 1,000 liters.
