In an effort to increase the amount of sustainable and local products and services I used in my every day life, I have started observing lables and advertisements more closely. In doing so I have come across a variety of products, such as toilets, and even services such as landscaping designs, advertising a reduction in the amount of water used in their operations. It seems to me that water conservation is one of the new buzz words on the market.
So when Evelyn mentioned the opportunity to see a real example of a rainwater harvesting system in action in a residential community, I knew I couldn't miss out. After all, I have heard about collecting rainwater via rain barrels on your own property and re-using it for household activities such as watering lawns and gardens, and washing cars and pets - but I have never come across anything on a large scale.
So on Wednesday's rainy afternoon (fitting for following a rain drop through a rainwater harvesting system) Catherine, Evelyn, and I headed out to The Landing at Southpoint, the first LEED certified condominium in North Carolina, for a Talk-n-Walk showcasing their FreeRain rainwater harvesting system. The event was sponsored by the Triangle chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council and featured speakers from the design team, including: the developer, Boylan Development; the landscape architect, JDavis Architecture; the storm water civil engineering team, EDR Engineering; and the company behind the rainwater harvesting solution, FreeRain.
Not only did the new system save the owner a huge initial investment, but it also provides savings over the years through lower water bills, environmental benefits, and even aesthetic advantages as the plants grow in. Compared to traditional storm water management systems, such as water retention ponds and sand filters, the rainwater harvesting system is much cheaper to install and maintain.
For example, with a traditional system, homeowners would have to pay to have the sand pumped out and have new sand brought in annually to maintain the sand filters. In addition to cost savings, a rainwater harvesting system takes up much less land space as the cistern can be installed underground, allowing the land to be used for other purposes. In the case of The Landing at Southpoint, the team was able to reduce the volume of bio-retention areas, the constructed wetland, by 19,000 gallons (or 23%) by just using the underground cistern, allowing more space for additional condominiums and recreational areas.
Rainwater harvesting systems also tend to have a much lower failure rate than traditional solutions as they prevent the chance of erosion or flooding. Other benefits of harvesting rainwater: the systems don't attract mosquitoes or promote algae growth, and the rainwater collected is actually better for your plants and gardens as it doesn't contain the harmful chemicals that your tap water does.
You may be wondering, what's so special about this rainwater harvesting system in place at The Landing? Well for starters, the design team came in to assess the area after phase one of the community was already in construction. This means that the entire rainwater harvesting system had to be designed and installed around the existing structures.
Not only did the team take such a difficult piece of land and design a way to conserve a large amount of water (about 100,000 gallons in total), they also constructed it on the border of a federally protected watershed and wetland area.
A little before and after: Prior to the rainwater harvesting system, the original civil engineering design called for three large sand filters and one wet pond for storm water quantity and quality control, which would have cost the owner over $360,000 for all materials, equipment, and labor (talk about an expensive initial investment!).
In comes the design team with a revised storm water management plan incorporating a rainwater harvesting system with a constructed wetland, allowing the community to completely eliminate the need for all three of the large sand filters, and ultimately saving the owner over $200,000! Instead of the sand filters, the FreeRain system & JDavis landscape plan incorporates a large, 22,000 gallon underground cistern for collecting roof water runoff from the two condo buildings and one constructed wetland to manage the quality and quantity of the storm water.
So when Evelyn mentioned the opportunity to see a real example of a rainwater harvesting system in action in a residential community, I knew I couldn't miss out. After all, I have heard about collecting rainwater via rain barrels on your own property and re-using it for household activities such as watering lawns and gardens, and washing cars and pets - but I have never come across anything on a large scale.
So on Wednesday's rainy afternoon (fitting for following a rain drop through a rainwater harvesting system) Catherine, Evelyn, and I headed out to The Landing at Southpoint, the first LEED certified condominium in North Carolina, for a Talk-n-Walk showcasing their FreeRain rainwater harvesting system. The event was sponsored by the Triangle chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council and featured speakers from the design team, including: the developer, Boylan Development; the landscape architect, JDavis Architecture; the storm water civil engineering team, EDR Engineering; and the company behind the rainwater harvesting solution, FreeRain.
Not only did the new system save the owner a huge initial investment, but it also provides savings over the years through lower water bills, environmental benefits, and even aesthetic advantages as the plants grow in. Compared to traditional storm water management systems, such as water retention ponds and sand filters, the rainwater harvesting system is much cheaper to install and maintain.
For example, with a traditional system, homeowners would have to pay to have the sand pumped out and have new sand brought in annually to maintain the sand filters. In addition to cost savings, a rainwater harvesting system takes up much less land space as the cistern can be installed underground, allowing the land to be used for other purposes. In the case of The Landing at Southpoint, the team was able to reduce the volume of bio-retention areas, the constructed wetland, by 19,000 gallons (or 23%) by just using the underground cistern, allowing more space for additional condominiums and recreational areas.
Rainwater harvesting systems also tend to have a much lower failure rate than traditional solutions as they prevent the chance of erosion or flooding. Other benefits of harvesting rainwater: the systems don't attract mosquitoes or promote algae growth, and the rainwater collected is actually better for your plants and gardens as it doesn't contain the harmful chemicals that your tap water does.
You may be wondering, what's so special about this rainwater harvesting system in place at The Landing? Well for starters, the design team came in to assess the area after phase one of the community was already in construction. This means that the entire rainwater harvesting system had to be designed and installed around the existing structures.
Not only did the team take such a difficult piece of land and design a way to conserve a large amount of water (about 100,000 gallons in total), they also constructed it on the border of a federally protected watershed and wetland area.
A little before and after: Prior to the rainwater harvesting system, the original civil engineering design called for three large sand filters and one wet pond for storm water quantity and quality control, which would have cost the owner over $360,000 for all materials, equipment, and labor (talk about an expensive initial investment!).
In comes the design team with a revised storm water management plan incorporating a rainwater harvesting system with a constructed wetland, allowing the community to completely eliminate the need for all three of the large sand filters, and ultimately saving the owner over $200,000! Instead of the sand filters, the FreeRain system & JDavis landscape plan incorporates a large, 22,000 gallon underground cistern for collecting roof water runoff from the two condo buildings and one constructed wetland to manage the quality and quantity of the storm water.
Following the presentation, the group headed out to the property to follow the "life of a raindrop" throughout the FreeRain system. Rainwater falling on rooftops of the two condo buildings is captured by the 22,000 gallon underground cistern located below the parking lot between the two buildings (you would never know just by looking).
The water collected in the cistern is then re-used to irrigate the property via drip line and slow, rotating sprayers. After irrigating the plant life, the water from the cistern collects in the constructed wetlands. Other rainwater falling on vehicular traffic areas, such as the streets and parking lots, is not collected by the cistern because of petroleum contamination. Instead, it is diverted into the constructed wetland by swells and sheet flow. In the constructed wetland, the suspended solids, nitrogen, and other nutrients are naturally filtered by the soils and plant materials.
The entire system is built around a slow moving filtration principle where water is constantly moving from one area of the wetland to another, which helps keep the wetland moist even during dry seasons. In addition to the natural flow of water throughout the property, each wetland contains a pump that circulates the water from the bottom of the wetland back up to the top surface. In the event of a lack of rainfall, the 22,000 gallon cistern serves as a source of water to replenish the wetland areas to maintain the landscape and promote healthy plant life. Although they don't predict to ever need to use it, The Landing at Southpoint design team added a backup well system just in case a severe drought comes over the local area.
So why is harvesting rainwater even important? And how can that cistern collect enough water to irrigate the entire property just from roof water runoff? Well, according to the design team and information provided by the Environmental Protection Agency [EPA], our supply of water is extremely important as our population continues to grow. According to the EPA and information collected through the Census Bureau, the predicted North Carolina population growth from 2005-2030 is 52%! They also predict that by this time the average person will be using 101-150 gallons of water per day. This brings the our water deficit to an astonishing 718 million gallons per day over the current supply by 2030.
Did you know that 90% of potable water goes to other activities such as washing cars, watering lawns, and flushing toilets? Recently, NC passed a bill allowing collected rainwater to be used for flushing toilets once it is treated with a disinfectant and colored either blue or green - the goal being to encourage rainwater harvesting and reduce the amount of potable water used for non-potable purposes.
If you can't participate in one of these large scale rainwater harvesting systems, there are things you still can do. For example, turn the water off while brushing your teeth, don't keep the shower water running for five minutes before you get in, and purchase a rain barrel to collect your own roof runoff to re-use for watering lawns and gardens. After all, it only takes 1 inch of rain per 1,000 square feet of roof line to fill 600 gallons of water.
Did you know that 90% of potable water goes to other activities such as washing cars, watering lawns, and flushing toilets? Recently, NC passed a bill allowing collected rainwater to be used for flushing toilets once it is treated with a disinfectant and colored either blue or green - the goal being to encourage rainwater harvesting and reduce the amount of potable water used for non-potable purposes.
If you can't participate in one of these large scale rainwater harvesting systems, there are things you still can do. For example, turn the water off while brushing your teeth, don't keep the shower water running for five minutes before you get in, and purchase a rain barrel to collect your own roof runoff to re-use for watering lawns and gardens. After all, it only takes 1 inch of rain per 1,000 square feet of roof line to fill 600 gallons of water.
Next time you're in the Durham area, head over to The Landing at Soutpoint and check out the largest, privately funded LEED certified project in the U.S and the only LEED certified condominium in North Carolina and see how a rainwater harvesting system not only protects our environment and conserves a precious natural resource, but also enhances the existing landscape!
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Chapter of the US Green Building Council. The purpose of the meeting was to attract like-minded green building folks who have an interest in reaching out to a diverse audience for jobs, opportunities, and education.
