Rainwater Harvesting & Farm Water Supply
Rainwater Harvesting: How It Works
The end-to-end sequence, stage by stage, with nothing skipped.
The module is modelled as an explicit state machine with 8 stages. Every record knows which stage it is at, what has to happen to move on, and what is blocking it if it cannot. Farm buildings present large, clean, unlicensed catchment areas that are almost universally discharged to a ditch. This module sizes the harvest available from every roof, designs the storage and distribution to match actual demand, appraises the capital case against mains and abstraction costs, and manages the water quality obligations where harvested water is used for stock or crop.
End to end
How Rainwater Harvesting runs, start to finish
The module is modelled as a state machine, so at any point the business knows exactly which stage every record is at and what has to happen next.
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1
Measure every roof catchment
This is where the record starts, and getting it right here removes work at every later stage.
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2
Obtain local rainfall records
The platform prompts only for what this stage genuinely needs, and carries everything forward.
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3
Profile demand by use and month
Conflicts with scheme rules, regulatory windows and existing commitments are flagged here rather than discovered later.
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4
Size storage against reliability target
Capture works offline, so this stage is completed in the field rather than remembered afterwards.
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5
Specify filtration and distribution
Everything recorded at this point becomes evidence automatically, in every format that will later ask for it.
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6
Appraise capital cost and grants
This is the stage most businesses currently do twice, once for the operation and once for the paperwork.
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7
Install and commission
Results feed the whole-farm view, so the effect of this stage is visible against the rest of the business.
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8
Monitor performance against design
The cycle closes here, and what is learned is carried into next season's plan rather than lost.
Sequence
The order things happen in
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Stage 1
Measure every roof catchment
This is where the record starts, and getting it right here removes work at every later stage.
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Stage 2
Obtain local rainfall records
The platform prompts only for what this stage genuinely needs, and carries everything forward.
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Stage 3
Profile demand by use and month
Conflicts with scheme rules, regulatory windows and existing commitments are flagged here rather than discovered later.
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Stage 4
Size storage against reliability target
Capture works offline, so this stage is completed in the field rather than remembered afterwards.
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Stage 5
Specify filtration and distribution
Everything recorded at this point becomes evidence automatically, in every format that will later ask for it.
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Stage 6
Appraise capital cost and grants
This is the stage most businesses currently do twice, once for the operation and once for the paperwork.
Before you start
What you will need, and what the module handles for you
Most of this comes across automatically once your holding is registered. The list is here so nothing arrives as a surprise.
In practice
Six things Rainwater Harvesting changes on day one
None of these requires a new process. They all come from recording the work you already do, once, in a form the rest of the platform can use.
Roof catchment area measurement from
Roof catchment area measurement from mapping with material and runoff coefficient.
Annual and monthly harvest potential
Annual and monthly harvest potential from local rainfall records.
Demand profiling by use —
Demand profiling by use — stock water, washdown, sprayer filling, irrigation, domestic.
Storage sizing against the supply
Storage sizing against the supply and demand profile with reliability modelling.
First flush diversion and filtration
First flush diversion and filtration specification.
Distribution network design with head
Distribution network design with head, pipe sizing and pump requirement.
Obligation calendar
What rainwater harvesting asks of you, and when
Windows, deadlines and recurring obligations for England. Set a different nation and the calendar reconfigures; farm across a border and it shows both, reconciled.
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January 1 entry
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8 January: Measure every roof catchment
A recurring step in rainwater harvesting.
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March 2 entries
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12 March: Obtain local rainfall records
A recurring step in rainwater harvesting.
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24 March: Profile demand by use and month
A recurring step in rainwater harvesting.
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April 1 entry
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20 April: Adding Value Grant
Round-based.
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May 1 entry
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26 May: Sustainable Farming Scheme
Scheme year runs to 31 December, with the single application form deadline in mid-May.
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June 2 entries
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5 June: Farming Transformation Fund
Round-based by theme.
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15 June: Sustainable Farming Incentive 2026
Two windows in 2026: window one from 30 June, window two from September.
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July 2 entries
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14 July: Slurry Infrastructure Grant
Round-based.
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17 July: Water Management Grant
Round-based.
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October 1 entry
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5 October: Farming Equipment and Technology Fund
Round-based, usually open for a defined application period.
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November 3 entries
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3 November: Size storage against reliability target
A recurring step in rainwater harvesting.
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12 November: Improving Farm Productivity Grant
Round-based.
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27 November: Environmental Land Management Capital Grants
Round-based, with rapid allocation once open.
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December 1 entry
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26 December: Countryside Stewardship
Rolling and round-based depending on the tier and option group.
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Questions answered
What people ask about Rainwater Harvesting
Does this replace the software I already use?
Not necessarily. Agrivencia integrates with authoritative sources and mainstream packages rather than insisting on replacing them. Where an incumbent does one job well, the platform connects to it; where the job spans several systems and nobody does it, the platform does it.
Will it work where I have no signal?
Yes. Field capture in Rainwater Harvesting is offline first, storing locally and synchronising when a connection returns. Only around a fifth of UK farms report reliable signal across the whole holding, so this is a design assumption rather than a feature.
What happens when the scheme rules change?
Scheme rules are held as data rather than code, so a rate change, a cap change or a window closure is a content update that takes effect the same day. The platform also alerts you to what the change does to your own position.
Who owns the data I put in?
You do. The Farm Data Charter gives you a complete export in open formats at any time, and every instance of data sharing requires an explicit, revocable consent that is visible in your account.
Does it work if I farm across a border?
Yes, and that is one of the main reasons the platform exists. A business with land in more than one nation sees one reconciled view rather than two portals, with obligations and deadlines from both administrations in a single calendar.
Can my agronomist or land agent use it too?
Yes. You grant scoped, time-limited access per holding and per module, and you can revoke it in one click. Advisers never get a shared password or a blanket view.
What is the biggest limitation of this module?
Over-sizing storage on optimistic demand. Mitigated by reliability modelling. We would rather state that plainly than let you discover it after signing.
What we are hearing
The problems people describe to us
These are composite statements drawn from user research conversations, not attributed customer quotes. We publish named references only with written consent.
I am not short of software. I am short of one place where the same field means the same thing in all of it.
The scheme closed on a Tuesday evening. I had the application half built. Nobody told me the budget was nearly gone.
We farm on both sides of the border. Everything takes twice as long and I still cannot see the whole position on one screen.
Audit week costs me three days. Every single record they ask for is already written down somewhere on this farm.
See Rainwater Harvesting running on your own holding
Thirty minutes, using your parcels, your schemes and your enterprises rather than a sample farm. No obligation and no sales script — if it does not fit your business we will say so.
- Free tier available
- No card required
- Your data stays yours