The Rain!!

[csgray]

Even in lowest Puna there is generally enough rain to keep a catchment system working. The word "generally" means unless you have a long drought, babies in cloth diapers, teenagers taking hour long showers, or mainland visitors with all of the above (that was the only time we ever bought water.) As far as the effort it takes to make it work, remember, you are the water system manager. A well set up system is easier to keep clean and healthy, and a poorly set up system is constant work and the risk of illness. UHH has a manual that is the "bible" of catchment system operation, if you search here the link will probably come up.

I can't emphasis enough that it isn't just a matter of INCHES of rain, it also is a matter of MINUTES of rain. And even that can vary a lot between two properties that are even just a quarter mile apart. But the "general" rule is closer to the ocean=drier and higher up the mountain=wetter, but based on personal experience, I would live in Kurtistown/Hawaiian Acres area with the big/hard showers broken up by sun over the nonstop drizzle I experienced in the back of Orchidland, but I know people in other parts of Orchidland who had very different weather.

Rent first, preferably in several different short term furnished rentals in widely scattered areas and different types of houses, that can give you a much better sense of what it is like to actually live here. We did that, then spent 2 years in a rented ocean front condo in Hilo, while we shopped houses, and finally bought in a completely different area than the one we had expected to.

Carol