Rainwater Collection Calculator

Calculate the potential rainwater harvest from your roof.
Decision Context
Page-specific guidance for using this result in a real planning decision.

This page estimates how much water you can harvest from roof area and rainfall so you can size collection plans more realistically.

Use it for garden irrigation planning, basic off-grid water projects, and comparing whether a storage setup matches expected rainfall.

The estimate should be treated as a planning range, because roof losses, first-flush diversion, and irregular rainfall patterns reduce real collection volume.

Calculator
Enter your values
Analysis
Interpretation of the current calculator output

Enter values to see detailed analysis and insights.

How to Use

Step-by-step instructions
  1. 1Enter the footprint area of your roof (length x width).
  2. 2Enter the rainfall amount (e.g., annual average or a single storm event).
  3. 3The calculator will estimate the harvestable water.

Harvest Potential

Calculates gallons harvested based on roof area (sq ft) and rainfall (inches). Includes a 0.623 conversion factor and 90% efficiency.
Gallons = Area x Rainfall x 0.623 x 0.9

Variables:

AreaRoof footprint (sq ft)
RainfallInches of rain
0.623Gallons per inch per sq ft

Example

1000 sq ft Roof

Inputs:

Area:1000 sq ft
Rainfall:1 inch

Steps:

  1. 1.Gallons = 1000 * 1 * 0.623 * 0.9 = 560.7 gallons
Result:
561 Gallons

Frequently Asked Questions

Does roof pitch matter?

For collection volume, only the horizontal footprint matters, not the slope area. A steeper roof has the same footprint as a flat one covering the same building.