Fight drought with rainwater system, says Annapolis County woman

A woman in Annapolis County says anyone with dry well issues should rethink their water source.

Andrea MacDonald's water falls from the sky now, instead of being pumped out of the ground.

"I have a large roof on my house and it's very steep, which is good for collecting rainwater," MacDonald said.

"The calculations I worked out, with about 25 millimetres of rain, I catch about 600 gallons (2,727 litres) of water."

MacDonald purchased her house in in the shoreside community of Port Lorne, N.S., last summer. Built in 1840, it was originally the home of a Bay of Fundy sea captain.

Collecting rain water

But there was one big problem. After just one week, there was no water in the six different wells on the site.

"I needed to go to an alternate source of water for the house, and so I decided on collecting rainwater and using that rainwater to supply the house," MacDonald said.

After living most of last summer without water, MacDonald did some research. She hired a local contractor to excavate some soil from in front of her house for a pair of 8,000 litre storage tanks.

'Plenty of water'

Pipes were connected from her tanks to the rain gutters on her house and she hasn't had a problem since, despite the drought conditions that have plagued Nova Scotia this summer.

"I still have plenty of water and after Monday's rain my tanks are full again, so I'm good to go," MacDonald said.

Conditions at MacDonald's home were so dry this summer, a stream on her property dried up. She had to water her four horses, three cows and three sheep from her new system. 

Inside her home, she does laundry, brushes her teeth, showers and cooks with the water provided by Mother Nature. She does not drink it.

'Haven't adjusted my water usage'

David Haynes, an independent contractor at Dave's Excavation, installed MacDonald's system.

"You just have to make sure everything is at the proper elevation for flow from the down spouts," Haynes said.

"You also want to make sure that you get the tanks in deep enough so frost won't affect them at all."

MacDonald said the rain catchment system cost about half of what it would have cost her to drill another well on her property. She's encouraging others to give the system some consideration.

"This summer has been a real test for it, being as dry as it is, and I haven't adjusted my water usage at all," MacDonald said.

"I still have plenty of water and I didn't come close to running out."