Category Archives: Infrastructure

Infrastructure, Rainwater Catchment

Failing Infrastructure is Among Reasons for Future Water Shortages in 8 Cities

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skyline-176943_640According to the World Water Development Report by the United Nations “A 40% shortfall of freshwater would be experienced as soon as 15 years.” Eight cities throughout the world were cited to witness severe  fresh water shortages due to failing infrastructure, saltwater intrusion, sewage and plumbing failures, population growth, and pollution. The report went on to recommend actions of capturing rainwater, recycling waste water, repairing and upgrading sewer and water conveyance, and education on conservation as methods to curtail this threat.

Seattle was brought up in the report as having a sustainable amount of rainfall to support rainwater collection. As stated in an earlier blog post, I wrote that the Puget Sound region would face 6.2 billion dollars in costs to upgrade, retrofit,and expand its freshwater infrastructure in the next 20 years.

Seattle has been progressive in recent years by requiring infiltration or use of stormwater runoff for new construction for residential and commercial projects. But, more can be done in the way of incentives or tax credits for rainwater collection and infiltration for all existing buildings and homes. Retrofitting existing structures is relatively easy but does have costs. Rainwise rain barrel programs create awareness, but fall short on actual conservation. A much more progressive program of promoting rainwater collection and education would recognize positive results in stormwater reduction, demands on freshwater infrastructure, and water consumption. Water districts should recognize that augmenting the water districts’ demands with rainwater collection would be beneficial rather than looking at Rainwater collection as a threat to their revenue. With Seattle’s fast growing population, demands on the infrastructure will rise accordingly. By offsetting demand with supplementary, private rainwater collection systems, demand will be reduced — as well as costs involved with supply.

Infrastructure, Rainwater Catchment, Sustainability

Rainwater Harvesting in Urban Areas

brooklyn-street-art-626255_640With so many citizens living in urban areas, cities must approach rainwater harvesting differently than in rural areas, where rain is absorbed into the ground or evaporates.

When it rains in an urban area, rainwater becomes runoff via streets, rooftops and parking lots. Runoff is captured in drains from which it travels via the sewer system, eventually winding up in a lake, creek, or other body of water. Since stormwater is typically released without any pollution management, it can become contaminated with bacteria, heavy metals, nutrients and particulates. So, in the city, water that replenishes our aquifers may have become tainted.

According to Jennifer Drake, Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering at University of Toronto, “Under natural conditions, aquifers are sustained through the infiltration of clean rainwater and streamwater into the ground. But for urban environments, these sources are cut off by the impervious landscapes. Instead, water from leaky sewers, water mains, septic tanks and landscape irrigation becomes the source for groundwater recharge. Since many of these sources are wastewater, they’re poor-quality sources and can lead to groundwater contamination.”

Low Impact Development (LID) includes stormwater management tecniques that allow urban runoff to seep into the ground and evapotranspire into the air. Sustainability systems are built into green roofs (like rooftop gardens), rain gardens (on ground level), which allow stormwater to soak directly into the earth and runoff is naturally filtered by soil as it goes back into the ground and replenishes aquifers.

Read more about Stormwater innovations mean cities don’t just flush rainwater down the drain. The article was also republished via ARCSA.

Infrastructure, Rainwater Catchment

Duke Energy Pleads Guilty to Violating Clean Water Act

(AP Photo/Chuck Burton, File)In a North Carolina courtroom, Thursday, Duke Energy, the country’s largest electricity provider, plead guilty to 9 criminal violations of the federal Clean Water Act.

According ABC News, “as part of a negotiated settlement with federal prosecutors, Duke agreed to pay $68 million in fines and $34 million on environmental projects and land conservation that will benefit rivers and wetlands in North Carolina and Virginia.”

Prior to the settlement, Duke spokeswoman Erin Culbert told The Associated Press that any homeowner who gets a state letter warning of a tainted well will get safe bottled water from Duke, if they request it. While denying responsibly for the problem, Culbert said Duke simply wants to provide the homeowners “peace of mind.”

RainBank has questioned the safety of our water supplies with the news about Toledo’s water supply affected by a toxic algae bloom – disturbing over one half million customers, and a coal spill in the West Virginia River that contaminated drinking water. The Keystone XL pipeline poses a potential threat of contamination to the Ogallala Aquifer in Nebraska. Additionally, it’s being discovered that wells are being contaminated with fracking chemicals.

We can see contamination events are happening more often, which affect our safe water supplies – and provide another good reason to support decentralized water and rainwater collection.