hqueen13
<Insert Snazzy Title Here
I didn't know where to put this, so I thought I'd put it here....
Some of you know that I work with a non-profit equine educational facility. We operate within a state park, and teach people all about horses. Our educational programs don't only include riding lessons, but also include some aspects of owning and operating a horse facility. We work with the county agencies and the USDA with projects for plantings, and do pasture walks through the agencies, and also rotationally graze our pastures for better grass health. That's the background anyway.
Our facility is situated on top of a hill. We have a 22 stall barn with a metal roof that creates a LOT of runoff. Currently, the runoff is managed with large gutters and dumps out onto the hillside. The problem with this is that the hill is VERY steep, and we are now beginning to have MASSIVE runoff problems. I am afraid part of the hill is going to fall away very soon if something isn't done to correct the issue. Working with the park it is pointed out that the hillside needs to be stabilized (it is currently just mowed grass), and so adding decent sized trees would help. However, it isn't going to solve the problem.
I have long had a dream to install a cistern to capture the rainwater from the roof, and then spread it on the pastures as a little bit of additional water when the rain stops during the summer. This would add to the facility's appeal as being a green facility in terms of managing the environment.
But I've run up against a wall.... firstly, I can't find anyone with the knowledge/resources that could create a system based upon a cistern, and secondly we have no funding for this project (all the funding around the facility is going into other resources for other things). We have the prime location because we are on a hill, the cistern would go on the hillside below the barn, and then you could gravity feed a tank to use for dispersal of the water - no pump is needed!
Is there anybody on here that can offer some suggestions or resources? I have no idea what size cistern I would need to handle the volume of water that comes off the roof. According to the formulas that I have found for that sort of thing the roof sheds approximately 100,000 gallons of water per year. I do know that I won't need to hold all 100,000 gallons at one time, but I don't know how much one might need to hold. I also know that the system needs a diverter so that if the cistern is full it can be diverted and not overflow the cistern. Beyond that, I have no idea where to even start!
Thanks
Some of you know that I work with a non-profit equine educational facility. We operate within a state park, and teach people all about horses. Our educational programs don't only include riding lessons, but also include some aspects of owning and operating a horse facility. We work with the county agencies and the USDA with projects for plantings, and do pasture walks through the agencies, and also rotationally graze our pastures for better grass health. That's the background anyway.
Our facility is situated on top of a hill. We have a 22 stall barn with a metal roof that creates a LOT of runoff. Currently, the runoff is managed with large gutters and dumps out onto the hillside. The problem with this is that the hill is VERY steep, and we are now beginning to have MASSIVE runoff problems. I am afraid part of the hill is going to fall away very soon if something isn't done to correct the issue. Working with the park it is pointed out that the hillside needs to be stabilized (it is currently just mowed grass), and so adding decent sized trees would help. However, it isn't going to solve the problem.
I have long had a dream to install a cistern to capture the rainwater from the roof, and then spread it on the pastures as a little bit of additional water when the rain stops during the summer. This would add to the facility's appeal as being a green facility in terms of managing the environment.
But I've run up against a wall.... firstly, I can't find anyone with the knowledge/resources that could create a system based upon a cistern, and secondly we have no funding for this project (all the funding around the facility is going into other resources for other things). We have the prime location because we are on a hill, the cistern would go on the hillside below the barn, and then you could gravity feed a tank to use for dispersal of the water - no pump is needed!
Is there anybody on here that can offer some suggestions or resources? I have no idea what size cistern I would need to handle the volume of water that comes off the roof. According to the formulas that I have found for that sort of thing the roof sheds approximately 100,000 gallons of water per year. I do know that I won't need to hold all 100,000 gallons at one time, but I don't know how much one might need to hold. I also know that the system needs a diverter so that if the cistern is full it can be diverted and not overflow the cistern. Beyond that, I have no idea where to even start!
Thanks
