Video Lesson Summary:

In this lesson you’ll learn how to create a layout for the water systems for your farm. In the broadest sense, these water systems consist of 5 parts:

1. Sources – rainfall, streams, springs, wells…
   
2. Storage – tanks, ponds/dams, cisterns…
3. Harvesting – a roof, driveway, site’s watershed…
4. Distribution – pipes, drains, ditches, pumps…
5. Overflow – spillways, drainage lines…

You’ll learn where to place each of these components from 2 to 5 onto 
your landscape.

You first start with positioning your water storages; dams and water tanks, ideally as high in the landscape as possible. Then you develop and expand upon the methods of harvesting the water with harvesting drains, swales and pipes. Finally, you design the water distribution systems by managing the overflow and reticulation pipeline system.

Once you are done you have the bones, so to speak, of your permaculture farm design, that all other farm features will be shaped around.

Action Steps:

STEP 1.Download the step-by-step guide on how to design your water systems. (Est. time required: 5 min.)

STEP 2. Design your water storage, harvesting and distribution systems (Est. time required: 2 h.)

• Use Google Earth to make your sketches, lines, drawings, calculations
• Refer to the case study Google Earth .kmz file for an example of water systems design.

STEP 3. Proceed to the next video lesson: Infrastructure Design

M3. Downloadable materials (for offline viewing and use):

• -> Worksheets and instructions
• -> Handouts (slides and transcripts)
• -> Videos
• -> Google Earth Files

M3. Curated Resources on the Subject:

• -> Books
• -> Web articles
• -> Podcasts
• -> Videos
• -> Vault Resources

Peer Support Discussions: