Approval!

We have recently been approved to construct our full-scale rainwater catchment system on the campus of Natural Bridges High School.  We are still waiting to find out if our specific design will be approved or whether the design needs to be modified.  If our design is approved, the catchment barrels will be placed in the open space visible in the picture above, with underground pipes running to them from the roofs of the classrooms nearby (as described in the post describing wet systems).

Pilot

The completed pilot project.  Since this picture was taken, the barrels have been painted the same color as the shed but it otherwise looks exactly the same.  In this case, the system is harvesting water from the roof of the shed immediately behind the barrels.  A white gutter is visible attached to the upper left corner of the shed.  Attached to the gutter is a brown, corrugated hose which transports water caught in the gutter to the barrels.  A PVC pipe  runs along the bottom of the barrels and is attached to each outlet so that the water level in each barrel is equalized.   

Spring quarter update
     We recently heard word that we will be receiving money for our project! To be specific, the student initiated Carbon fund, created to reduce UCSC's carbon footprint by funding carbon saving projects, will be supporting us with $8,000. While our project produces minimal carbon savings through reduction in amount of water that must be processed and transported by municipalities, it makes up for this through community involvement.
     We will be spending  the money on a full scale professional rainwater catchment system, to be constructed near the gardens at NBHS. This system will likely be what is called a 'wet' or 'charged' system. This means that the downspout off the roof connects directly to a pipe that runs down into the ground, then runs horizontally to the tank, back up vertically, and enters the tank. As long as the entrance to the tank is lower than where the pipe attaches to the downspout, pressure will allow the water to appear to defy gravity and flow back up into the tank. See diagram:

This type of system is a great choice for our location because the garden area is strained for space, and, using a wet system, we can place the tank far away from the buildings, so as not to obstruct walkways or work areas.
     Currently we are researching more about wet systems so we can begin digging a trench next week with the students. We finished the pilot system on April 8th, after a few hiccups and delays. The pilot's completion was delayed significantly due to limited workdays with the students and bad weather. As a result, we will be involving NBHS's construction class, taking place on Mondays and Wednesdays, to get some extra work in to complete construction in time.

The Team

Here we are visiting Santa Cruz Nutritionals, picking up barrels that they donated to our cause.  We are holding up big thank you cards that we all made together. 

Water Conservation at NBHS

We are a group of three UCSC students currently working on an off campus project for the Impact Designs: Engineering and Sustainability through Student Service (IDEASS) course.  Our project began with the idea of building a rainwater catchment system with the teachers and students of Natural Bridges High School, for the campus garden, located at 313 Swift Street. Rainwater catchment was chosen for its low cost and simplicity. Setting up a rainwater catchment system requires relatively little funds and technical knowledge. The systems can be simple and require only a sloping surface onto which rainwater will fall, a storage container to hold the harvested water, and a means of conveying it from the roof to the container (often a gutter or hose).  We are already nearly finished with a small scale catchment system which we have constructed out of both reused materials and purchased materials.  This small scale system, which we have labeled our pilot system, has given us an opportunity to practice working with the students and to establish a better understanding of the construction process.  We will also be able to run some tests for rainwater runoff efficiency once the pilot system is complete.  Ideally, these tests will provide valuable insight into how we might enhance the performance of our main system.  By harvesting rain water, the school’s municipal water use will be reduced significantly, thereby eliminating the CO2 which would otherwise be released in pumping the water to the school.   

Since we started working on this project, its ambitions have expanded beyond rain-water harvesting.  We’ve decided to aspire to also include grey water recycling as a method of conserving water. Grey-water systems tend to be much more variable in level of simplicity and cost; however they have the potential to save a substantial amount of clean water.  Due to time constraints, we will not be able to install any grey water recycling systems at the school, but we do plan on working through the permitting process so that, if given the opportunity, future projects may pick up where we left off.

Since our project is taking place at a school, we have also had the opportunity to work with the students and so student involvement and education has become another one of our main ambitions.  Ultimately, we aspire to create and/or promote a supportive network of activists, influential individuals and any interested members of the community, through the use of various mediums, in order to foster productive collaboration on water conservation projects across the county.  If we are to take water conservation seriously, we need to try an approach which is versatile and involves educating and motivating as many people as possible.  The Natural Bridges High School is the ideal location for us to take said approach and begin working towards these goals.