Disconnect your downpipes

Garden Designers are always looking for ways to return water to the ground naturally through infiltration back into the ground, rather than sending it off into storm drains.

Many are taking up the challenge to 'disconnect the downpipes' to prevent water ending up in underground drains. By disconnecting your downpipes, you can store water in a rainwater butt for use in the garden, channel it off to top up a water feature, or use it to irrigate your garden planters directly.

One of my favourites tricks is to use a traditional Japanese-style rain chain, or kusari doi.

Lily Rain Chains are one of the most popular designs

Rain Chains break the fall of the water from the roof, guiding it visibly downward to the ground, or into a rain barrel for storage.

Image courtesy of Re-nest.com

Rain Chains are usually made from copper as this doesn't rust, and acquires a lovely verdigris finish. Copper rain chains are an elegant and functional alternative to traditional closed metal or plastic downspouts and are becoming increasingly popular in the UK and USA

There are an excellent selection of Rain Chain available at UK Garden accessories supplier Garden Boutique and at RainChains.com or Gutter Supply in the USA

Rain chains can be beautiful as well as useful in a garden scheme
RainChains.com

Simple link rain chain
£119.95 Garden Boutique

ENVIRONMENT AGENCY PUSH FOR UNIVERSAL WATER METERING

According to Barbara Young, chief executive of the Environment Agency "Evidence shows that metering, cuts water consumption by at least ten per cent."

The Environment Agency was commenting on the government's Water Strategy for England publication, which highlighted the need for new houses to be fitted with water efficient appliances. These could include things like water butts attached to down pipes in order to collect rainwater.


Barbara Young, chief executive of the EA, said that, although pleased the government recognised the need for compulsory metering where water was scarce, she wanted to see a "far greater level of urgency put on introducing it".

"The government has set a timescale which looks to introduce universal metering in water stressed areas before 2030... this is not remotely early enough," she said.

Other ways of saving water include using a watering can instead of a hosepipe where possible and mulching your garden regularly to reduce evaporation.

USING WATER WISELY - GREY WATER RECYCLING AND RAINWATER HARVESTING

Rainfall is becoming less predictable in our changing climate and so an important part of sustainable garden design relates to the way we manage of rainwater.

Hosepipe bans have become a common occurrence in the UK and can last for well over six months in times of drought - whilst flash floods continue to terrorise the nation.

When it rains, water from buildings and hard surfaces is directed through downpipes, drains and gullies into the drainage system. Some downpipes from the roofs of domestic properties are directed into a soak-away and so return to the water table naturally. However, in urban areas the water is taken away into drainage systems.

The current water management system makes our bills more expensive - with the need for constant repairs and new drainage systems to cope with peak rainfall. It also causes groundwater levels drop as the water doesn’t return to the water table, and so we all suffer from water shortages.

The average house roof apparently sheds 45,000 litres of water per year! This means that nearly 25% of the water we currently use could be harvested from our roofs.

WATER BUTTS
The simplest way to capture rainwater is to use diverters on your downpipes and feed this into water butts or rain barrels – but on a large scale this can look unsightly.

GREY WATER RECYCLING
A better, but more expensive solution, is the storage of grey water and rainwater in an underground tank. This is a far more practical solution as the water can be pumped directly from the tank to flush toilets, feed the washing machine and irrigate the garden.

These companies are specialists in grey water recycling:

• Aquaco
• Freewater UK
• Perpetual Water

For more information on the science behind grey water recycling check out this site

With careful planning, gardens can be designed to include sustainable solutions for managing rainwater and drought.