Author: AZWebArch

Nestled in the stunning landscapes of Northern Arizona, our passive solar home is designed to thrive in a region where municipal water supply is absent, and drilling a well is impractical and costly. As people that value sustainable living, we’ve embraced rainwater harvesting as our primary water source, turning the challenge of scarce resources into an opportunity for self-sufficiency. We also conserve the precious water we collect. Our showers have built in timers, and we use low-flow faucets and dual flush toilets. We also have a HydroLoop residential greywater recycling system that you can read about below.

Why Consider Rainwater Harvesting Even with Municipal Water Supply?

Rainwater harvesting isn’t just for off-grid homesteads. Even in areas served by municipal water, establishing a rainwater harvesting system is advantageous:

1. Mitigation of Municipal Failures: In recent years significant municipal water supply failures due to lead contamination and aging infrastructure have left neighborhoods and even entire cities without clean, potable water. By harvesting rainwater, you can ensure a reliable source of water.
2. Natural Disaster Preparedness: Water supply systems are particularly vulnerable during natural disasters such as wildfires, hurricanes, and earthquakes. An onsite rainwater catchment, storage, and treatment system provides peace of mind, ensuring water availability during emergencies.
3. Enhanced Fire Protection: A substantial onsite water supply enables property owners to safeguard their homes and provide first responders with additional water resources during fire emergencies.

Components of Our Rainwater Harvesting System

With over 4,000 square feet of metal roofing, our home captures precious rainwater, supplemented by collection from outbuildings that support our micro farm. Our state-of-the-science water harvesting, storage, and purification system ensures that we have a reliable domestic water source. We treat our harvested rainwater using a multi-stage filtration process, including sediment and carbon filters, followed by UV treatment, making it safe for all household needs.

• Metal Roofing: Our system begins with a metal roof, the ideal choice for potable rainwater harvesting. Unlike asphalt or treated wood shingles that may introduce harmful chemicals, metal roofing allows for clean water collection, minimizing contaminants in our water supply.
• Strategic Water Collection: Equipped with six-inch gutters, our collection system efficiently captures rainwater from all roof surfaces. During Arizona’s monsoon season—from mid-June through September—intense storms can deliver significant rainfall quickly. Larger gutters prevent overflow and optimize our water capture during these critical periods.
• Ample Water Storage: Given the cyclical drought conditions in our region, our water storage system is designed to hold a minimum six-month supply. With nine connected cisterns, we store approximately 23,000 gallons of water, ensuring we are well-prepared for dry spells.

By harnessing the power of rainwater, we not only tackle the challenges of our beautiful but arid environment, but also contribute to sustainable living and water conservation. Join us in embracing this eco-friendly solution and discover the benefits of rainwater harvesting today!

Greywater Recycling: Making Every Drop Count – Twice

On our sustainable homestead, we embrace innovative water conservation practices to create a thriving ecosystem. Our commitment to water sustainability is guided by two Simple Rules:

1. Reuse Water: We maximize the use of every drop, ensuring that most of our water supply is used more than once.
2. Conserve Resources: We don’t flush poop with drinking water. We time our showers. We turn off water while brushing our teeth or washing our hands.

At the heart of our approach is greywater recycling. We employ two effective approaches:

• The Hydraloop System: Utilizing cutting-edge technology from The Netherlands, the Hydraloop reduces potable water use by up to 40%. This advanced greywater recycling machine transforms water from showers, baths, and laundry into clean, non-potable water suitable for toilet flushing, laundry, and irrigation. You can learn more about HydroLoop on their website: https://www.hydraloop.com
• Greywater Irrigation: Greywater from our bathroom sinks and overflow from the HydroLoop is directed to irrigate a variety of plants, including fruit trees, berry bushes, and edible perennials.

Learn more about how we make every drop count – more than once! Check back regularly as we add resources to support your journey to water-wise living.

At Red Lake Valley Regenerative Homestead we are committed to harnessing solar energy through our advanced photovoltaic (PV) solar generation system, also known as “active solar.” Our system efficiently converts sunlight into electricity, drastically reducing our reliance on external power sources.

System Overview

Our PV solar system was installed in two phases:

• Phase One: We began with the installation of 12 high-efficiency 365-watt monocrystalline solar panels, utilizing Bluetti batteries and inverters for temporary energy storage.
• Phase Two: Two years later we expanded our system by adding 36 400-watt bi-facial monocrystalline solar panels, bringing our total to 48 panels with a maximum capacity of just under 19 kW. Bifacial panels collect sunlight from both sides of the panel – both the side facing the sun and the side facing the ground, capturing the sun’s energy that reflects off surfaces beneath the panels.

This comprehensive setup features a storage capacity of 27 kWh, sufficient to power all our domestic electrical needs, including our two electric vehicles.

Sustainable Living Goals

Our vision for this robust solar system is to achieve energy self-sufficiency by utilizing the energy generated on our land, eliminating reliance on external power sources that require expensive and vulnerable infrastructure, and often use ancient fuels for electricity generation.

While our system primarily operates independently, it is also a hybrid setup, connected to the grid as a backup. This grid tie-in not only ensures a secondary power source, if needed, but also allows any excess energy we produce to flow back into the local grid. This feature is particularly beneficial for stabilizing the electrical infrastructure in our neighborhood, which often experiences outages, especially during colder months.

By investing in our photovoltaic solar generation system, we are taking a proactive step towards living sustainably and contributing positively to our community’s energy resilience.