Rock Hill, SC Landscaping Rules: Rainwater Harvesting (2026)

Rock Hill's stormwater discharge-control ordinance bans dumping anything but stormwater into the city's storm drain system, but it carves out a specific list of exemptions. City Code § 29-306(7)b provides that certain discharges "are exempt from discharge prohibitions established by this article," and harvested rainwater is named directly in that list alongside water line flushing, landscape irrigation, diverted stream flows, and air conditioning condensation. That means a homeowner who collects rainwater in a barrel or cistern and lets it run off or soak in is not committing an illicit discharge under the stormwater code.

The city's drought conservation ordinance goes further and affirmatively promotes water reuse: § 29-273 states that "[a]ll users of water supplied by the city are encouraged to use best management practices to preserve the limited water supply," and specifically calls out "the use of reuse water, rain sensors and drip irrigation systems" for landscaping purposes, in addition to following the Irrigation Association's turf and landscape best management practices. Neither the stormwater article nor the drought ordinance requires a permit, registration, or inspection for a residential rain barrel or cistern, and neither imposes a size or capacity cap on such systems.

Because both provisions treat harvested rainwater as a favored, non-regulated practice rather than a licensed activity, Rock Hill's code supports rainwater harvesting without imposing any procedural burden on residents who choose to collect and reuse it on their own property.