BOOK REVIEW by www.watermagazine.com
Forgotten Rain
Rediscovering Rainwater Harvesting
"... I have found it easy to be here bathed in air conditioning, swimming pools, and faucet water that pours without end. With these resources I have imagined that I am anywhere, that I am not in a place frequented by drought where the adaptations of plants and animals baffle even the most learned researchers. I have taken showers here, left the water running, and played in the sprinklers. I have also wondered how we can live here in peace and without ignorance, how we can solve our thirst but still thrive in a desert, and know who we are......"
This is a book about rainwater harvesting, but its essence originates over a thousand years ago in the Arizona desert. It reflects the inspiration felt by its writer, Heather Kinkade-Levario, and was published by Granite Canyon Publications Inc.
In her acknowledgement, the author notes: "the inspiration for this book came from my love of the desert and from a desire to save an ecosystem that has both raised my environmental awareness and given me a deep reverence for the Arizona desert." The preface notes that metropolitan Phoenix clears more than one acre of open desert land every hour of every day, and that this rate of development will put severe strain on current water supply.
Forgotten Rain is a coffee table book, written with passion, brimming with content and ideas, and overflowing with images. Its large format, glossy pages are liberally illustrated with beautiful photographs - mostly taken by the author - presented in stark black and white and full colour. A handbook for the would-be rainwater harvester. A present for the committed protector of the world's waters.
Chapter headings of this heartfelt, 130 page book include:
- Introduction: Arizona's Urban Water Crisis, Conservation Efforts;
- Concepts of Rainwater Harvesting: History, System Components, Catchment Area, Conveyance, Roof washing, Storage, Distribution, Purification;
- How to Harvest Rainwater: Water Balance Analysis, Average Annual Rainfall, Site Plan, Landscape Plan, Irrigation Plan, Water Budget;
- Arizona's Working Examples: Residential Rainwater Harvesting (5 case studies), Commercial Rainwater Harvesting (2 examples), Research Facilities Rainwater Harvesting - Desert House, Casa del Agua;
- Pilot Project for Commercial & Industrial Rainwater Harvesting
The book is full of ideas, examples, pictures and thoughts. Its pages are liberally informed with figures, tables and useful formulae. It is a helpful resource for anyone thinking about rainwater harvesting and wondering how to go about it. I think it would also be also useful for water resource management policy and planning people designing a communications strategy around rainwater reuse and rainwater harvesting.
Other things. The book contains an appendix with detailed information about rainwater harvesting componentry including: spouting, filters, first flush devices, storage systems etc. It also contains supplier contacts (US based), references, glossary and index.
Forgotten Rainwater was published in 2004 by Granite Canyon Publications.
The isbn is 0-9720036-4-9.
Ordering and further information via website: www.forgottenrain.com
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Joel Cayford
Editor
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