I live in the Oakland hills and last year investigated both a graywater system as well as a rainwater (roof runoff) system with a vendor who installs both. I will not recommend them as they seem to have disappeared entirely, being a small 2-man operation. Graywater: - The biggest problem is access to existing plumbing. It might be easy or it might be like our 1940 house - virtually impossible. If the main plumbing lines are easily accessed, it's about $3K install. If you've got to break into walls to get to the pipes, figure it's straight up from the base price. - You'll need a place about 4x4, easily accessible, to put a 75-gallon tank. It will connect to a sand pond, about 2x4 or thereabouts. You'll have to clean it out once a year or the system will gum up, replacing the old with fresh new sand. What do you do with the old sand? Beats me, but you'll need someone with a pickup truck to haul the gunk out. - A small pump is used to keep the water flowing from the tank to the pond. The pond usually just has a faucet on the side so you can hook up a hose and start watering. - You'll have to switch to BIO-COMPATIBLE soaps and cleaning agents. Bio-degradable isn't sufficient. Make sure you check the prices of the few brands available, some of them aren't cheap. Best source for info on graywater systems you can install yourself is Gray Water Guerrillas, a local organization dedicated to saving water. Link is below. Rainwater catch system: - Although the graywater was a no-go, our house actually has the absolutely perfect siting, architecture, and gutter setup for a rainwater catch system. I was told by the rep that many houses are not set up well with their existing gutter system for retrofitted rainwater catch systems. He showed me that none of our neighbors, for example, could install such a system without considerable modifications. To redo your existing gutters is a good-sized job, unless you're a contractor. - In an average year (which we've had in Oakland) the system will catch approximately 15,000 gallons of water. - This leads to the part that stopped us - you'll need about an 8x8x8' space, minimum - 12' is better - to install one of the cisterns, which cost about $3K. The only logical place to put the cistern unfortunately would eliminate our prized mature Meyer Lemon and worse, be visible from not only our house, but three neighbors' houses as well...one large eyesore! It would also completely cut off access on that side of the house (you can currently walk entirely around the house without obstruction). - If we had thought about this when we first bought the house and were gut-remodeling it, it would have been easy to site the cistern slightly further downhill and hide it entirely from sight. Unfortunately, all the landscaping was completed five years ago and is mature and beautiful. Digging it up now would be a major hassle, plus the cost of re-landscaping. In the end, we did neither because the payback was not there. Only general info applies as each situation is unique. Unfortunately, there are almost no vendors who do this since it was, until very recently, illegal in CA. Most of the information available is the DIY kind, or geared toward commercial installations. There is very little help for the individual homeowner who doesn't feel confident in his/her DIY skills, sadly. With time this might certainly change, though. You may want to check out this article on rainwater catchment systems - perhaps the local office of ARCSA might be able to refer you to a catchment system installer: http://www.waterefficiency.net/the-latest/drought-rain-harvesting.aspx Here is a link that might be useful: The Gray Water Guerrillas

My system has media rather than a net pot. The downward flow of the nutrient along drain lines combined with the downward elbow creates a siphon effect which drains the lower 1 1/2-2" of the pot. I put the inner elbow about ¼ " from the bottom of the pot  if it is flush with the bottom it will seal & not drain. The purpose is to keep the roots from being constantly wet & to recycle the bottom nutrient. I had problems with some salts accumulation, & intermittently draining the area helped. It may not be necessary with this system, but I found it helpful with mine.

Thanks grizzman, I can see it possible with plastic buckets. Although I have never really thought about trying it. I have seen jewelry made many years ago. I mentioned before I took ceramics in high school, and during advanced ceramics class (I took 4 times) the teacher also taught a second class in the same room at the same time. A jewelry class where he spent most of his time. He would just give us an assignment at the beginning of the week, then we would just make what we wanted even if it wasn't the given assignment, as long as we were doing something he didn't care. I often saw what they were doing but don't remember much other than they would make a casting out of wax, then encase it in plaster or something. Then heat it to get the wax out of it, in order to pour the metal in the mold. But from the way you explained it it sounds like pluming. I have done that many times before, getting the solder in joint between two pieces of copper tubing. In fact I'm going to need to do that exact thing again shortly to change the two outside water faucets. Although I have never herd of a type of plastic solder. Is it easy to get, and what type of heat source is used? I to have used both male and female threaded PVC fittings to make a bulkhead fitting on the bottoms of 2 gallon paint buckets. But the only ones that I have seen (that fit together anyway), the male end is tapered. So the female end only goes on so far before it gets to tight to go any ferther. I have used spacers to remedy that problem though. In the picture it looks like a fairly good seal but doesn't it need help from something other than the O-ring to make it water tight because of the curve? Unless it's a real thick O-ring (rubber gasket etc.) there must be some gap right? sdgrower Thanks, I have lots of the threaded/barbed fittings although I have never tried to tap and thread it into the side of a bucket. I just use them to connect my vinyl tubing to PVC tubing. Depending on the situation that might be useful. Although instead of a plastic wing nut, I would probably use the threaded PVC connector on the inside to clamp it down tight (like a bulkhead fitting), I could always just cut off any part of it I don't need. What I have in mind for the main tower is a minimum of 8 inch PVC tube, but most likely 12 inch. The pluming supply houses in town carry all sizes and one sells it by the foot (the other sells 20 foot sections). Depending on the plants and basket sizes, I would want 2 or 3 inch PVC tubing for the side tubes. I have a lot of 3 inch baskets, but it depends on what plants I decide to grow in it (as well as the future plants). The elbows wont work for what I have in mind without modification. Basically I need a straight piece of tubing to start with, or the baskets wont be able to go past the elbow/bend. Therefore wouldn't be able to get misted on from the mister heads. My baskets have a small lip, so there wouldn't be any modifications or stoppers to keep the baskets in place. It would get quite expensive for 2 or 3 inch elbow fittings in comparison. I don't remember for sure but even 2 inch fittings are more than $1 each if I remember correctly. But a 10 foot piece of 2 inch PVC only costs about $4. That 10 foot piece of tubing will make 30 4 inch long pieces that I would use for the side tubes that hold the baskets. I still would need to make each of them the right shape, but that wont be hard to do. I just need to make a drum sander (wheel sander). Just using a piece of tubing the same size as the main tube (12 inch tube), attaching it to a lathe or drill to spin it. Then covering it with sand paper. All I would need to do is cut out some of the bulk of the side tubing (so there's less sanding to so), and grind it down. At that point I would have the perfect shape, and angle to glue to the main tube for a flush fit every time. Considering that each main tube depending on the size of the baskets I decide to go with, and height of the tower there would be quite of a lot of side tubes to do, so replicating it is an important factor to me. PVC glue is not expensive and is easy to use. But I would still want to make the connections stronger. I don't know what made me think of it, but I also thought about using a glue gun today. I used to have one but don't know where it is. Glue guns are less than $10 and the glue sticks are cheep as well. I just need to test it on PVC to see how well it bonds, but if it does work that's the cheapest option yet. Other inexpensive options I plan to test include things like different types of "liquid nails". Although most wont cure properly if the solvents cant evaporate. Non pours materials wont allow that evaporation. But it would still be expose to the air for evaporation because the seam would be glued together with PVC glue. Only the outer edge would be glued with the liquid nails (glue gun etc.), like caulking the edge of a counter top. So I'm guessing it would cure but just take longer. I would also use a sanding sponge (a sponge with sand glued to it) to clean the edges before using the glue gun or liquid nails etc. before gluing. That will clean the surface (of excess PVC glue etc.), also it would scuff up the surface and create a better bond.

The ground has been dry under a few inches of surface moisture for a very long time and I think that's why I'm now seeing such an explosion of growth and bloom. After some time I will begin to study how much or little water the roses need, but at this point I think at least some of the roses have been short of sub-surface moisture for quite a long time and giving them more than necessary for a little while will not hurt them. Strangely, our water district actually has a surplus of water in its reservoirs because they've been importing water (don't ask!) so I don't feel that I'm causing any harm at this time, especially with El Nino coming soon. There will be quite a bit of fine tuning needed in the future to ensure we don't waste water but that the roses still receive the amount they require.