Water
Rainwater harvesting, greywater systems, irrigation, and watershed restoration.
Water Cheatsheet
Quick-reference best practices for harvesting, storing, and managing water sustainably.
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№ 008Aquifer Recharge: Putting Water Back Underground
Managed recharge from check dams to infiltration basins, why underground storage beats surface storage, and how to avoid recharging pollution.
№ 074Finding Contour: The Level Line That Everything Depends On
A-frames, bunyip levels, and laser levels — how to mark a true level line across a slope before digging anything that has to hold water.
№ 177Ram Pumps: Lifting Water With Nothing but Water
The hydraulic ram uses the momentum of falling water to push a fraction of it uphill forever, with two moving parts and no power supply.
№ 191Salinity: The Slow Poisoning of Irrigated Land
How irrigation turns productive ground saline, the difference between salinity and sodicity, and the drainage and species choices that hold it back.
№ 247Water Quality Testing: Knowing What You Actually Have
What to test for in rainwater, wells, and surface water, how often, and the treatment steps that match each class of contaminant.
№ 250Wells and Boreholes: Taking Water from Underground
How aquifers actually behave, the difference between a dug well and a drilled borehole, and why the drawdown that matters is your neighbour's.
№ 108Keeping Stored Water Clean: Tanks, Cisterns, and Ponds
Why stored water goes bad, why copper and zinc work, how to keep algae and mosquitoes out, and the boring physical fixes that handle 80% of the problem.
№ 198Self-Sufficient Ponds: Building a Body of Water That Manages Itself
How a built pond becomes a real ecosystem: the first three years, the trophic layers it needs, and the small interventions that decide between a balanced pond and a green soup.
№ 031Roof Catchment Calculation: Know Your Numbers
How to calculate rainwater yield from your roof area, accounting for runoff coefficients, losses, and annual rainfall to size your harvesting system correctly.
№ 062Drip Irrigation: Precision Watering at 90% Efficiency
Drip delivers water straight to the root zone at 90 percent efficiency, cutting waste, disease, and labour against any overhead system.
№ 063Drought-Tolerant Species: Gardens on Rainfall Alone
Mediterranean, Australian, and South African plants that thrive in summer-dry climates, plus the design rules that keep them alive.
№ 065Earthworks and Contouring: Shaping Land to Hold Water
Landscape-scale water management through grading, contouring, and earth structures that slow, spread, and sink rainwater into the ground.
№ 076First-Flush Diverters: Clean Water from the Start
How first-flush diverters work to remove dust, bird droppings, pollen, and debris from the initial roof runoff before it enters your rainwater tank.
№ 078Fog Nets: Harvesting Water from Thin Air
Mesh panels intercept fog droplets to supply clean water in arid coastal and mountain zones where rain is scarce but fog is steady.
№ 087Gravity-Fed Systems: No Pump, No Power, No Problem
Use elevation and gravity to move water from tanks to gardens, troughs, and taps with no pump, no power, and no ongoing energy cost.
№ 101Hydrozoning: Group Plants by Water Needs
Group plants by water need, irrigate each group on its own schedule, and cut outdoor water use by 30 to 50 percent.
№ 130Mulching for Moisture: Cut Evaporation by 70%
How a thick mulch layer shades the soil, blocks wind, and stops capillary loss, plus which materials work best for moisture retention.
№ 152Overflow Management: Never Waste a Drop
Direct tank overflow into swales, rain gardens, and infiltration features so excess water builds landscape resilience instead of cutting erosion gullies.
№ 160Permeable Surfaces: Let Rain Soak In Where It Falls
Replace impervious paving with surfaces that drink rain in place, recharge groundwater, and turn driveways into water harvesting assets.
№ 166Ponds and Dams: Landscape-Scale Water Storage
How to site, build, and shape ponds and dams that store irrigation water, host wildlife, buffer microclimate, and defend against fire.
№ 200Shade Management: Strategic Shade Saves Water
Thoughtful tree placement cuts soil evaporation, eases transpiration stress, cools buildings, and drops garden water demand by half.
№ 214Soil Is Your Biggest Water Tank
How organic matter turns soil into a massive water reservoir, and the practical moves that increase your water-holding capacity.
№ 224Surface Catchment: Every Hard Surface Is a Water Source
Direct runoff from driveways, paths, and patios into rain gardens, tree basins, and swales instead of the storm drain.
№ 230Water Tank Placement: Shade, Elevation, and Gravity
Where to put a water tank so shade keeps it cool, elevation gives free pressure, and overflow feeds the landscape instead of eroding it.
№ 231Tank Sizing: How Much Storage Do You Need?
Match roof supply to garden and household demand with a monthly water budget that reveals the real storage volume you need.
№ 241Underground Cisterns: Buried Storage That Lasts
How buried water storage kills evaporation, blocks algae, and stays cool. Types, install notes, costs, and how to plumb the system.
№ 248Watering Timing: When You Water Matters
Why the hour you irrigate shifts efficiency, plant health, and disease risk, and how to adjust your schedule across the seasons.
№ 253Wicking Beds: Self-Watering from Below
Wicking beds hold a sub-surface reservoir and feed roots through capillary action, cutting evaporation and stretching tank water through dry weeks.
№ 258Windbreaks: Hedgerows That Save Water
How permeable shelterbelts cut wind-driven evaporation by 20 to 30 percent while delivering fruit, timber, habitat, and pest control.
№ 035Check Dams: Slowing Water, Building Land
How small rock, log, or earth barriers placed across drainage lines slow erosion, capture sediment, infiltrate water, and gradually rebuild degraded gullies.
№ 088Greywater Systems: Recycling Household Water
Redirect shower, sink, and laundry water to fruit trees and orchards using simple mulch basins and a diverter valve.
№ 109Keyline Design: Moving Water from Valleys to Ridges
P.A. Yeomans' keyline system reads the shape of the land and uses gravity to push water from wet valleys to dry ridges.
№ 175Rain Gardens: Beautiful Water Filtration
Design a shallow planted depression that catches roof runoff, filters pollutants, recharges groundwater, and feeds pollinators.
№ 226Swales on Contour: Passive Water Harvesting
Design and build contour swales that catch runoff, recharge groundwater, and turn dry hillsides into productive land.
№ 176Rainwater Harvesting Basics
Catch the rain off your roof, hold it in a tank, and water your garden through the dry months. Here's how.