Wet, wet, wet – Paul Rosser looks at a very wet October

October was wet by any measure.   By our 11 year measure, it was the wettest since we arrived at the Eco Village, with a reading of 71.0mm, taking our YTD figure to 456.0mm.   The question on everybody’s lips is, “Can we get to 500.0mm for 2022?”   It’s going to be tight, possible but not probable.

It rained on 14 of our 31 days for October, the highest daily reading being 25.0mm on 5th of October.   That gives us two readings go 25.0mm or above for the year so far.  We had 38.0mm on the 30th of May this year.

So, how did we compare with other years from 2011?

Year                       October                               Year to Date

2022                       71.0mm                                456.0mm

2021                       48.5mm                                449.0mm

2020                       53.5mm                                456.0mm

2019                       25.0mm                                329.5mm

2018                       14.5mm                                282.5mm

2017                       19.5mm                                464.0mm

2016                       55.0mm                                598.0mm (that’s the year we got 670.0mm for the year)

2015                       2.0mm                                  393.0mm

2014                       Nil                                           345.0mm

2013                       9.0mm                                  469.0mm

2012                       14.0mm                                476.0mm

2011                       13.0mm                                NA

Well, there it is the best October since 2011.

We are now in the last period of Wirltuti in the Kaurna calendar.  It’s traditionally a time of the weather heating up, thunder both dry & wet, lightning & dry breezes.  Lots of Kangaroo & Yabbies to eat.  Controlled low heat burning in the foothills & birds fly north if the Murray Darling Basin floods.    Sound familiar.   Not bad for no computers, no written records.  What a wonderful people they are.   Next report we’ll be entering the Warltati period which goes through into our March.

Did you know that if you have a house of 200 square metres & we get 1.0mm of rain you get 200.0 litres of water in your tank each time it rains.    We sized our home tank using this formula as a guide & chose a 50,000 litre tank.    It has been full since mid August & continues to remain full even though we a constantly drawing of water for our use, given our good falls of rain lately.   The question is, “Can we all capture more rain water than you do?”

The other thing one can consider is Gutter Guard.    This helps to keep the collected water clean.    It is recommended that metal guard is used as it is bushfire proof, whereas plastic will burn if embers lodge on your roof in a fire.    Embers can travel up to a kilometre or more in a fire with a good wind behind it.   That’s from Willunga Creek to our north, well into the Sports Park over Port Road.

Another tip to get clean water is to put on a first flush system of at least two metres, to capture silt from your roof.   Finally, get a couple of common garden sieves (fine & larger) to place over your input sieve.   These three sieves reduce muck going into the water considerably.   Don’t forget to clean them at least monthly.  If you’ve got any other tips let me know & I’ll put them on next month’s report.

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Paul Rosser

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