Hewitt Farms is a 54 acre farm in north eastern Pennsylvania.

The barn roof and structure needs major repairs and has been chosen to be the first part of a rooftop rainwater harvesting project. This will be the starting point of a broader sustainability project.

The plan is to create a rooftop rainwater harvesting system, one that stores in a couple of large containers, and that can withstand the winters.

This is an experiment that we would like to share widely. We are drawing on the work done at the Cabell Brand Center. They have a picture that we would like to replicate.

We will use their rainwater manual">rainwater harvesting manual and a document from from Montana State University (attached in this application).

From a local weather watcher, we have rainfall and temperature data.

The barn size is 30ftx40ft and we will calculate the amount of rainfall we can capture and balance with what we can afford to store. We are leaning towards fiberglass but monolithic/poured concrete is an acceptable option.

This is meant to be a pilot, a showcase, and we welcome any suggestions and insights.

This project covers just one barn and we hope to finish it before winter sets in.

The owner of the farm is the enthusiastic proponent and also on the township planning commission (vice chair) and through membership of two local community organizations, hopes to interest the local gov't and bay keepers, etc.

The long-term vision is to have built/renovated two barns that will eventually be the central buildings to support a sustainable ag community and teaching center, perhaps staff and/or visitor housing,

Currently usage for drinking cannot be an official use. There are many uses for water in a farm:

1) Barn can house up to 8 horses.

2) Small herds of sheep and goats, limited number of chickens, possible cattle in future.

3) Clothes washer

4) Greenhouse (to be constructed) irrigation.

There is also a pond (which is scheduled to be expanded x 3 by fall) which can supplement water needs, as the overflow from the pond already runs into the stream beside the barn.