Rainwater Harvesting on a Ranch

My long-time friend Glee Ingram of Austin, Texas-based Growing Designs Inc., Custom Landscaping was contracted to design new landscaping around the main house on a ranch in Medina, Texas. The emphasis was on increasing sustainability features around the house, the headquarters for their guest artist programs, and their sustainable hunting and food preparation program. This 1,500-acre ranch is home to a bison herd that produces meat for the ranch and for local merchants in Austin and Central Texas.

Many feral hogs now call the river basin home and frequent harvesting is required to keep the fast-growing population in check. Weekend hunting excursions are followed by gourmet chef cooking demonstrations. These events alternate with artist and writer camps for those seeking a quiet, beautiful location for retreats.

Needing to supplement well water with rainwater for both landscaping and potable uses, Ingram sought assistance in the evaluation and specifications for rainwater storage facilities. My background in water conservation, green building and rainwater harvesting meshed with the overall goals for the project. Together, we evaluated the water needs for an expanded roosting chicken population, a planned large vegetable garden and fruit orchard area, plus an increased outdoor living space for the guest artists. While Ingram concentrated on landscape design, I set out to refine the best method to increase existing rainwater and well water storage.

Immediately after my initial call, I looked up the website for the ranch and quickly determined that the roads leading into the ranch were narrow and winding and had several low-water crossings. Plus, the existing entry was hard to navigate with large trucks. I then knew that a site-built cistern would be required. Choices were concrete, Fero-cement and metal. I asked Dave Alberts at Spec-All Products Inc., Austin, to accompany me to the initial consultation, having already decided that a segmented, site-constructed metal cistern would be my primary choice for this remote ranch location.

We arrived at the ranch and were met by Ingram, Heather Kohut, and Robert Selement, ranch manager. Evaluating several possible locations, we chose a level site near the chicken roost and downhill from the main house. Spec-All Products provided specifications for a 25- by 25-foot slab to hold their 2424 Ranch Tank for ranch staff to construct. This tank would add 24,000 gallons of water storage and a filtration/purification UV system could treat both rainwater and well water to drinking water standards. An on-demand jet pump would pressurize the lines into the house.

When the slab was ready for installation of the tank, the assembly crew was allowed to stay overnight in a guesthouse. The tank of choice was one that has evolved from grain storage silos, but has metal specifications more similar to corrugated culverts. A standard silo will not hold the weight of many gallons of liquid. CorGal water tanks from Austin-based Water Storage Tanks Inc. was the answer, and distributor Spec-All was the installer.

CorGal tanks are galvanized steel and used for water or liquid storage. The tanks are constructed of Scafco corrugated, galvanized, punched and rolled steel wall sheets that are bolted together at a project site. Most CorGal tanks are round structures but special shapes can also be produced. These segmented metal tanks are very adaptable, easy to haul into remote locations and range from 6 to 105 feet in diameter. Our diameter was 24 feet.

CorGal liquid storage tanks generally are fitted with pre-liners (black in the above photo) to isolate and reduce condensation and flexible, food-grade membrane liners
(white in the below photo) on the inside of the tanks for water containment. The use of a flexible membrane liner also distributes the water load uniformly across the foundation area. Another benefit of segmented corrugated tanks is that they can be disassembled and moved.

Construction took only two days. Once the tank was finished, the liners were installed to provide safe drinking water for the ranch visitors.

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Dick Peterson is an environmental and rainwater consultant in Central Texas. To learn more, visit www.DickPeterson.com.