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Inventor Laurie Dee will bring many years of experience in household rainwater collection to a workshop in Ōrewa next month.
The workshop, on February 10, is hosted by Ōrewa Community Garden and will focus on collecting and storing rainwater in a barrel to use on home gardens.
Laurie says he will demonstrate how to set up a simple system, doing it yourself with no plumbers required!
Although he spent a number of years as an entertainer, Laurie originally trained as an engineer and has used those skills for inventions that include The Hedgehog filter for roof gutters, which is sold internationally, and a rainwater diverter. The diverter goes into the downpipe and funnels water into your tank or barrel, then when that is full, diverts the overflow back into the downpipe.
He came up with that invention almost 30 years ago, during a severe water shortage in Auckland.
That process inspired further inventions, and his focus on rainwater diversion has continued.
“The average Auckland household puts the 180,000 litres of water that falls on the roof down the drain every year,” Laurie says. “Realising what a waste that is has changed Auckland Council’s minds about home rainwater tanks. They are a huge asset in taking pressure off the public system.”
Laurie says he has become something of a crusader for the benefits of small rainwater systems for the urban environment, where there is not much room for a large tank, but water can be stored in a barrel and connected for garden use.
As well as running workshops in Auckland and Hamilton, in recent years, the Birkenhead resident has been involved in a Council initiative driven by the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board to get rain barrels installed in local schools.
He says schools and Early Childhood Centres are offered a modest rainwater harvesting system, with the tab picked up by Council.
Laurie talks with the children about the process, and installs it.
“I thought it might go with all the cuts, but Council is talking about it, so I think I might be doing it again this year,” he says.
He says with the cost of water going up at least 10 percent a year, more homeowners are looking into installing tanks, or small systems.
For details of the workshop, see What’s On.
