Originally Posted by
stapfam
I cannot understand the "American" habit of no gutters and drains to take away Rain water from houses. That is not allowed over here and most properties have main drainage to take Rain water away from houses into drains. If no drainage then piped to soakaways to remove water from the gardens.
I've lived in many houses. Every single one had gutters and downspouts. There is a thriving gutter and downspout business everywhere I have lived.
What we can't do in our parched state is capture the water (like in a barrel or a cistern) - at least not legally - as every bit of water is owned - through water rights laws and special water rights courts. So, the water that falls on my house is not mine.
There have been some changes in the last couple of years in this law, but not for the average regular homeowner.