Tag Archives: sustainability

Rainwater Catchment

University Adds Rainwater Collection System for Irrigation


Diagram showing water collection and usage in a rainwater harvesting system.St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Tx has added a rainwater collection system to its campus to assist with irrigation.

A 5,050-gallon tank will collect some of approximately240,000 gallons of rain that fall onto that area of the campus annually. Using a small pump, the collectedrainwater will be used forlandscaping irrigation in that section.

An idea fueled by students, the project was pitched to the administration. It is the first of its kind on campus, and willbecome the centerpiece of St. Mary’s sustainability efforts. Similar systems could be considered elsewhere oncampus.

To read more, please visit the university’s website.

 

Rainwater Harvesting Education

What is Your Water Footprint?


Close-up of a water droplet on a green leaf against a dark background.According to National Geographic, the average American lifestyle is kept afloat by about 2,000 gallons of H2O a day–twice the global average.

Have you ever calculated your water footprint?Do you know how much water you use? Do you know how much it costs in dollars? Do you know that how much water you use and how you use it impacts the environment? In a recent article by Scott Tong, the authorsurveyed folksto see how much water they estimatethe average person/family uses per day. Then he measured how much water his family of five uses. The results were a surprising.

There are also hidden ways we usewater that we don’t always take into account. As reported by National Geographic, nearly 95 percent of your water footprint is hidden in the food you eat, energy you use, products you buy, and services you rely on.

If you want to calculate your water footprint and learn ways to save water in your household, click here for the Water Footprint Calculatorfrom National Geographic.