Royal Agricultural

College

Rain Harvesting on the Farm

Tom Overbury

Royal Agricultural

College

Water supply to house put in in1935Some pipework replaced in 1980’sNo mains supply to farm buildings

Royal Agricultural

College

Now being

replaced by

wind generator

and solar

panels

Royal Agricultural

College

Water harvesting driven by need/meaness

Two set ups of two buildings each60 x 4-6 month calves in each building

Royal Agricultural

College

First uses 3 open tanks

Royal Agricultural

CollegeEach tank is 5.4 m3 (1,200 gallon)

Royal Agricultural

College

Second set up uses glass fibre tank

Tank capacity 28 m3 28,000 litres (6,000 gallons)

Royal Agricultural

College

Water collection

Localised flooding

Upkeep of guttering important

Royal Agricultural

College

Water quality

Can be stagnant water problems

Leaves, debris, dead partridges

Clean out prior to use

Guaranteed

to stop it

raining

Royal Agricultural

College

Over two buildings, 12.5 mm (½ in) of rain yields 6.3 m3 of water

(60 x 40 ft and 80 x 40 ft)

(18 x 12 m and 24 x 12 m)

Average winter monthly rainfall is say 80mm

Royal Agricultural

College

Potential savings

Average monthly winter rainfallNov-Jan 90mm per monthFeb-Mar 80 mm per monthApril 70 mm

Over two buildings, 80mm gives 40m3

Less 15% for evaporation gives 34m3

At cost of £1.13 / m3 = £38.40

N.B. Not all winter water is used

Royal Agricultural

College

Potential savings

Say use 15 litres per calf per day

120 calves use 54 m3 per month

At cost of £1.13 / m3 = £61.00 per month

Royal Agricultural

College

Once you have routed all the run off to one place, it is crucial to allow for the excess once the tanks are full.

Royal Agricultural

College

MDC Effective use of Water on Dairy Farms• http://www.dairyco.org.uk/media/10351/effectiveuseofwaterondairyfarms.pdf

Useful information: