Sunday 28 June 2026
This one-day course runs from 10am to 5pm at Earthship Brighton, Stanmer Park, Brighton.
Learn how to catch, store and purify water for a range of home uses
Whether you want to collect water for garden use, or for some domestic uses, this course will cover what you need to know.
You may want to save some money? Or you want a supply of water free of chlorine and pesticides?
What will the course cover?
We will look at:
- Why harvest water?
- How we can harvest water for our home and garden
- Working out how much you can collect and how much you will need to store
- Collection methods
- Storage, including types of storage
- Purification, we don’t need to treat and purify all the water we use and in some cases there is a distinct advantage not to
- Distribution
- Size of system
- Economics
- Legal considerations
We will do practical sessions on how to effectively set up water butts from rainwater downpipes, as this is very frequently not done properly, resulting in water butts overflowing or simply not filling properly. Also will will arrange a few water butts in series so that they fill one after another. The concepts apply equally to larger tanks.
We will take a tour of the Earthship’s water system. This ambitious system collects rainwater. This work in progress aims to treat the water to drinking water standards, then treat the output of sinks to flush the toilet and finally treat the sewage in a reedbed.
We will be given a guided walk of unique heritage water features by Paula Gardner of Stanmer Preservation Society. These unique water features include a “water catcher” which feeds water to a series of underground cisterns, and also wells with pumps powered by horses, donkeys & people!
Who is the course for?
The course is open to anyone over the age of 16, and no prior knowledge is necessary. It is relevant to anyone who wants to harvest water for the home or garden.
The tour will include a short walk of around one or two miles. Please do dress appropriately, as we will not be deterred by poor weather conditions.
Where possible we aim to make our courses accessible to people with physical and learning issues. Please contact us before booking if you think something might affect your ability to take part in this course.
Course tutors
The courses will be led by Daniel Holloway who designs and installs renewable heating systems and related technologies.
Ilya Schippers works with Daniel and will be assisting him with the course.
A guided walk of unique heritage water features by Paula Gardner of Stanmer Preservation Society.
Venue
Earthship Brighton
Stanmer Park (near University of Sussex)
Brighton
Sussex
South East England
Get directions to our meeting point in Stanmer Park.
If you intend to book accommodation, please check availability before booking a place, as accommodation in Brighton can be hard to find, especially over the summer months.
Get details on local accommodation and Brighton Permaculture Trust supporters who can provide accommodation in their homes.
Fees
Fees include tuition, refreshments access to notes/resources after the course.
- £175 – Sponsored/organisation rate
- £175 – Individual income more than 25k/yr
- £140 – Individual income 18-25k/yr
- £105 – Individual income less than 18k/yr
- £70 – Individual, concessionary rate (check your eligibility)*
* Concessionary places are limited. If places are not available check back two weeks before the course/event as more may be available then.
We endeavour to make our courses and events affordable to all. Unfortunately, we do not receive any external funding for most of these and rely on large amounts of voluntary input.
See the cancellations and refunds policy.
Booking your place
Booking is essential, as most of our courses/events are fully booked weeks in advance. However, if places are still available, then bookings can be made until midday the day before the course/event. A place is not secured until we have received the requested payment.
If you have completed the booking process but you haven’t received a confirmation email from us please contact us to check your booking has gone through.
If you are booking within two weeks of the event, or the event is nearly full, you will not have the option to pay by BACS. Instead, you will need to pay immediately using a credit/debit card or PayPal.