Collecting rainwater

[mac]

We have a new system installed and operating at a local marina, and it's working better than we had guessed. One on the reasons it's doing so well is that there was plenty of room to put some large storage tanks. There are three 5,000 gallon each collecting water from a 6 inch downspout. South Florida is experiencing a drought, but with the little rain we have been getting, it's keeping the tanks filled. And the water is showing about 26 ppm on a TDS meter. Not only free water, but free spot free water to boot. In thinking of ways to adapt this to a crawash, I keep coming up with issues. The marina works well because the building covers about two acres, it's really big. A typical car wash building won't be near that size. Where you capture the water also makes a difference, at least in Florida. If you get it before it goes into the ground, storm drain, or retention pond, there is no problem. But when it hits the ground, believe it or not, it "belongs" to the state water management people. Not a big deal, but it might be an issue redirecting the water from the storm drain. The storage tanks are another issue. Putting in large inground tanks seems to be an easy answer, but if you have a high water table, as we do in FL, you can have the tanks "pop" out of the ground if they are empty. Just some randome thoughts.