Water & Rainwater
Rainwater Harvesting & Farm Water Supply
Every roof on the farm is a catchment you already own.
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.
- 12 capabilities
- 4 linked schemes
- Offline capable
- 12
- Capabilities in this module
- 5
- Interactive tools
- 4
- Linked support schemes
- 5
- Data integrations
- 5
- Measures reported
The ground reality
What is actually happening in rainwater harvesting in the UK
Rainwater harvested from a roof is not subject to abstraction licensing, which makes it the only source a farm can expand without a regulatory application. A large livestock or grain store roof in a typical UK rainfall regime can yield a substantial proportion of annual stock water demand, and the payback is driven mainly by the displaced cost of mains water or pumped abstraction.
Figures are as published at the time of writing. Farm policy and payment rates change frequently — verify against the primary source before relying on any number here.
In the field
Rainwater harvesting, as it actually looks
Photography from working UK holdings alongside the interface that records it. Every frame below is a commissioned slot: the brief is stated until the photograph is taken.
Rainwater Harvesting — a walkthrough
A working pass through rainwater harvesting: entering the record once, and watching it appear in the evidence pack, the calendar and the scheme application without being typed again.
- 0:00 What the module is for
- 0:48 Entering the record
- 2:05 Where it appears next
- 3:20 The evidence pack
Photography slots state their own brief until the shot is commissioned, so the layout never shifts when real images arrive.
Capabilities
What Rainwater Harvesting does
Every capability below is built on the same underlying record, so entering something once is enough for it to appear wherever it is needed.
Record and plan
- Roof catchment area measurement from mapping with material and runoff coefficient
- Annual and monthly harvest potential from local rainfall records
- Demand profiling by use — stock water, washdown, sprayer filling, irrigation, domestic
Operate and monitor
- Storage sizing against the supply and demand profile with reliability modelling
- First flush diversion and filtration specification
- Distribution network design with head, pipe sizing and pump requirement
Comply and evidence
- Water quality management for stock drinking water use
- Capital cost appraisal with payback against mains and abstraction cost
- Grant eligibility checking across capital funding routes
Analyse and improve
- Installer and contractor marketplace with verified references
- Groundwater recharge and attenuation structure design
- Ongoing performance monitoring against the design assumption
Interactive
Tools you actually use, not screens you read
These are working interfaces inside the module — maps, calculators, planners and dashboards that respond to your own holding data.
Harvest potential calculator: roof area multiplied by rainfall multiplied by runoff coefficient
Harvest potential calculator: roof area multiplied by rainfall multiplied by runoff coefficient
CalculatorStorage sizing tool with reliability curve showing days of supply
Storage sizing tool with reliability curve showing days of supply
ToolPayback calculator against current water cost
Payback calculator against current water cost
CalculatorMonthly supply versus demand chart identifying the critical months
Monthly supply versus demand chart identifying the critical months
ChartSystem designer producing a specification for quotation
System designer producing a specification for quotation
BuilderEnd 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.
Who uses it
Built around four real jobs, not one generic user
Each of these people needs something different from the same record. The module is designed so none of them has to work around the others.
Livestock farmer
High stock water demand
Needs to cut a mains water bill with a payback that stands up.
Arable farmer
Sprayer filling and washdown
Needs clean water without drawing on the abstraction licence.
Farm building contractor
New build design
Needs harvesting designed in rather than retrofitted.
Catchment partnership officer
Runoff reduction
Needs attenuation benefit quantified alongside supply benefit.
Schemes and funding
Support schemes this module works with
Agrivencia holds these schemes as data, so eligibility, payment rates, caps and windows update the day they change rather than at the next software release.
Water Management Grant
Fund on-farm water storage and efficient irrigation to secure water supply and reduce abstraction pressure.
Defra / Rural Payments Agency EnglandEnvironmental Land Management Capital Grants
Fund capital works supporting environmental outcomes — boundaries, water, air quality, natural flood management and infrastructure.
Defra / Rural Payments Agency EnglandFarming Equipment and Technology Fund
Contribute towards the cost of specified equipment and technology that improves productivity, slurry management or animal health and welfare.
Defra / Rural Payments Agency WalesSustainable Farming Scheme
Replace area-based direct payments in Wales with a scheme rewarding sustainable land management outcomes.
Welsh Government / Rural Payments WalesRates, caps and windows change frequently and sometimes without notice. Always confirm against the current published scheme rules before applying.
Measurement
How you will know it is working
The module reports against these measures from the day it is switched on, so the value is demonstrable rather than assumed.
- 01Cubic metres harvested annually
- 02Percentage of demand met from harvest
- 03Cost per cubic metre delivered
- 04Payback period achieved
- 05Mains and abstraction volume displaced
Try it now
Rainwater Harvesting Calculator
Size the harvest available from your roofs, the storage needed to make it reliable, and the payback against what you currently pay for water.
How this is calculated
Harvest equals roof area multiplied by rainfall in metres multiplied by the runoff coefficient. Storage is sized on the longest expected dry period against daily demand. Payback is capital divided by annual saving, before grant contribution.
Harvested rainwater is not subject to abstraction licensing, which is often the main reason to do it. Water quality treatment is required for stock drinking water.
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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Payment schedule
What is due, and when it lands
Farm support arrives in instalments from several bodies on different calendars. Set against your own overdraft, the question is not how much but when — so the ledger is ordered by date, not by scheme.
| When | Payment | From | Amount | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June | Water Management Grant | Defra / Rural Payments Agency | — | Expected |
| June | Environmental Land Management Capital Grants | Defra / Rural Payments Agency | — | Agreed |
| December | Farming Equipment and Technology Fund | Defra / Rural Payments Agency | — | Eligible |
| May | Sustainable Farming Scheme | Welsh Government / Rural Payments Wales | — | Eligible |
| June | Sustainable Farming Incentive 2026 | Defra / Rural Payments Agency | — | Eligible |
| March | Countryside Stewardship | Defra / Natural England / Rural Payments Agency | — | Eligible |
- — Agreed and scheduled
- — Claimed, awaiting payment
- — Eligible, unclaimed
What the statuses mean
- Agreed
- Under a signed agreement with a scheduled payment date.
- Expected
- Claimed and assessed; payment date per the published standard.
- Eligible
- Your holding appears to qualify but nothing is claimed yet.
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.
Documents
Take it away with you
Everything here is printable and works on a kitchen table with no signal. Where a document asks for an email address, it says so on the button rather than after you press it.
Free Water Off Every Roof: Sizing, Storing and Paying Back a Harvesting System
The practical handbook for rainwater harvesting: what the rules require, what the evidence has to show, and the mistakes that cost people money.
rainwater harvesting — evidence checklist
Every document an audit or a claim asks for, in the order it is asked for, with the validity period of each.
rainwater harvesting — record template
The record structure the module uses, as a spreadsheet, so a business not yet on the platform can start keeping it correctly today.
Data model reference
Entities, fields and integration points for rainwater harvesting, for advisers and software partners.
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