Join me this week as we look at the basic types of water storage elements used in designing a functional broadacre water system.

Nearly all broadacre water systems include some form of water storage, either as groundwater (aquifer storage), retained soil moisture (accessible by living plant roots), or bulk water (ponds, lakes, tanks, cisterns). Water storage elements function to:

• cover peaks in demand (production from the water source cannot meet peak demand)
• smooth out variations in supply (seasonal changes in availability and ease of obtaining water)
• provide water security in case of supply interruption or disaster (supply buffers)
• save structures from wild fire
• meet legal requirements (firefighting, fire suppression sprinklers etc.)
• improve water quality (clarification, filtration, settling etc.)
• provide thermal storage and freeze protection (thermal mass of water modifies local microclimate)
• enable a smaller pipe to serve for a distant source (cost savings on water infrastructure)

In this show, we're going to talk about the four main types of water storage elements that you might encounter while optimizing your homestead hydrology!

• Soil Storage - we always start here - soil storage is the cheapest form of storage, especially if you're trying to grow something.
• Ponds & Dams
• Tanks & Cisterns
• Aquifer Storage

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WHAT I DO:

Design:

On-Site Consultation

Online Site/Project Consultation

Holistic Ecosystem Design

Implementation:

Water Harvesting Earthworks

High-function, Low-Maintenance Access

Living Systems

Spring Development

Courses:

Minimum Holistic Goal

Media:

The Sovereign Homestead Podcast

YouTube

Instagram

Music by Alex Grohl