Rainwater Catchment System Can Supply Up to 70 Percent of Water Needs
Folks who customarily drive along the Plum Island Turnpike have watched a metamorphosis at Mass Audubon’s Joppa Flats Education Center. A new “green” classroom for children and family programs seemed to pop out of the roof on the east end of the building, and has now been in use for more than six months. However, there has been a less visible renovation: a new rainwater catchment system that collects water from the building’s roof and uses it for flushing toilets – a cutting-edge system that can be replicated by homeowners and businesses.
Installing components for water catchment system at Joppa Flats Education Center
“One of the biggest problems we’re going to face in the near future is enough fresh water,” says Bill Gette, Sanctuary Director at Joppa Flats. “Conserving water is a must.” But composting toilets were out of the question when Gette first considered how to conserve water at the education center. With its location just steps from the Merrimack River estuary, a high water table meant that the building couldn’t have a basement, and without a basement, composting toilets were not a viable option.
Five years ago Joppa Flats installed its first water catchment system, three simple backyard tanks that hold rainwater to use in gardening and car washing. Seeing its success, Gette figured he could use the same kind of system for toilets. “Water that we collect is water that doesn’t have to be removed from the aquifer, treated with chemicals, and piped to our Center, just to flush some toilets. Every time we use water from our rainwater catchment system, we’re off the grid.”
The new water catchment system includes a 1,000-gallon tank and some new plumbing. Water collected from the roof during rainstorms flows though gutters and pipes to the tank. Water is then pumped out of the tank as toilets are flushed. When there isn’t enough rainwater to do the job, an automated valve allows city water to fill the tank. Since the catchment system and city water supply are physically isolated from each other, no backflow is allowed back into city water, preventing any contamination. Another bonus: there is no fluoride or other added chemicals in the rainwater, making it more environmentally friendly for wildlife and the surrounding habitat.
“We anticipate that this innovative new system, one of only a few in Massachusetts, will reduce our consumption of city water by as much as 70%,” says Gette. Interpretive materials at Joppa Flats will explain how the system works. “Not only are we conserving water, but we can now demonstrate to homeowners and businesses that the same option is available to them for a comparable cost with a conventional plumbing system, especially with new construction or renovation.”
Mass Audubon is the largest conservation organization in New England, caring for 34,000 acres of conservation land and providing education programs for 200,000 children and adults annually. Mass Audubon’s Joppa Flats Education Center, located at One Plum Island Turnpike in Newburyport, is a natural history education center that is open to the public Tuesday through Sunday and Monday holidays, 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Call 978-462-9998 for information about additional programs and events, or visit the website at www.massaudubon.org.
