The hotel that runs on rain
Castello di Reschio catches its own water and grows most of its food. You can copy the water part at home, for the price of a barrel.
In 1994 Count Antonio Bolza bought a castle in the hills between Umbria and Tuscany, and about fifty farmhouses that had lost their roofs. His son Benedikt, an architect, spent the next twenty-five years putting them back up. The castle opened as a hotel last, once everything around it was finished.
The estate says its water comes from lakes on the land that hold rain and nothing else. The farm is organic: olive oil, honey from the hives, eggs, sheep's cheese from a small creamery. The furniture is made in workshops below the castle.
Rain has a short history
Water usually arrives with a past. Pipes, storage, whatever it picked up along the way. Rain that falls on your own land has almost none. That is why Reschio can tell you where its water comes from, and most hotels cannot.
There is a small version of this that costs almost nothing. Put a barrel under a downpipe and you have the garden watered for the summer. Plants do better on rain than on tap water, which is treated for us rather than for them. Drinking water is a different question, and the answer there is to find out what is actually in your tap and filter for that. I go through how in the water area.
Sixty years of being left alone
Those hills were always worked by hand, and then, for about sixty years, nobody farmed them at all. No sprays, no fertiliser, nothing added. The soil was simply left. The family did not have to clean the land, they inherited it clean and kept it that way.
Soil recovers when you stop adding to it, and a room is much the same. Most of my work in a bedroom or a kitchen is taking things out rather than putting things in.
Reschio spent twenty-five years on this. The two habits worth copying are smaller than that: catch the rain that already falls on your house, and go slowly with what you bring indoors.
| What it catches | Roughly one litre for every millimetre of rain on every square metre of roof. A 40m² roof in 10mm of rain gives about 400 litres. |
|---|---|
| Size | A standard domestic butt holds about 200 to 250 litres. Two linked butts beat one large one in an awkward corner. |
| Where it goes | Against a downpipe, on firm level ground, raised on blocks so a watering can fits under the tap. Shade keeps the water fresher than sun. |
| The connection | A diverter fitted into the downpipe sends rain in and lets the overflow carry on to the drain. |
| The lid | Close-fitting, always. It keeps out light, leaves and insects, and it matters around small children and animals. |
| Keeping it fresh | Covered, out of the sun, and used regularly so it turns over. Clear gutters, or a first-flush diverter, do the rest. |
| In winter | Leave room for ice. Draw it down before a hard frost, or leave the tap open. |
| What it is for | The garden. Drinking water is a separate question, answered at the tap. |
The short answers
The same thing again, in the order people ask it.
What is rainwater harvesting?
Catching the rain that falls on a roof or on land and holding it until you need it, instead of letting it run to the drain. At the size of a house that is a barrel under a downpipe. At the size of an estate it can be lakes, as at Reschio, whose water comes from lakes on its own land that hold rain and nothing else.
How much rainwater can you collect from a roof?
Roughly one litre for every millimetre of rain on every square metre of roof, before losses to splash and evaporation. A 40 square metre roof in 10mm of rain gives close to 400 litres, which is more than most butts hold. That is why it fills faster than people expect.
What size water butt do you need?
A standard domestic butt holds about 200 to 250 litres, which waters a small garden through a dry spell. The question is not how much rain falls but how long it has to last between showers, so for a thirsty garden two linked butts beat one large one in an awkward corner.
Where should a water butt go?
Against a downpipe, on firm level ground, raised on blocks or a stand so a watering can fits under the tap. Shade rather than full sun, because a cool dark butt keeps its water fresher. A diverter in the downpipe sends the rain in and lets the overflow carry on to the drain.
Does a water butt need a lid?
Yes, close-fitting. It keeps out light, leaves and insects, and keeps the water usable for longer. It also matters for safety around small children and animals.
Can you drink rainwater from a water butt?
Butt water is garden water. It has run off a roof and through a gutter and picked up what was there. Drinking water is a separate question, and the answer is to find out what is actually in your tap and filter for that.
Is rainwater better for plants than tap water?
Plants generally do better on rain. It is soft, it carries no chlorine, and tap water is treated for people rather than for plants. Blueberries, camellias and rhododendrons notice it most, particularly in a hard water area.
How do you stop water in a butt going stagnant?
Keep it covered and out of the sun, and use it regularly so the water turns over. Keeping leaves out of the gutter, or a first-flush diverter that sends the dirtiest first run to the drain, does most of the rest.
What do you do with a water butt in winter?
Leave room for ice. Water expands as it freezes, so a full butt can split in a hard frost. Draw it down before a cold spell, or leave the tap open, and keep using it in mild weather.
Why does leaving soil alone improve it?
Soil recovers when nothing more is added to it. The hills around Reschio went roughly sixty years with no sprays and no fertiliser, and the family inherited clean land rather than having to clean it. In a garden, stop adding, feed it compost, and the life comes back. The closed version of that loop is in the garden that feeds itself.
What if the ground slopes?
Then the rain can be held in the ground rather than in a barrel, in a level ditch cut across the slope. That is the Tuscan garden that drinks only rain.
The property. Castello di Reschio, in the hills between Umbria and Tuscany. The 1994 purchase, the restoration of about fifty farmhouses, the lakes holding rain, the organic farm with its hives and creamery, and the furniture made on site are described on reschio.com and reschio.com/farming.
Reuse. Quote any part of this page with a link back to it. Educational purposes only, and not a substitute for medical advice.