New York State Pollution Prevention Institute R&D Program 2016-2017 Student Competition University/College Name Team Name Team Member Names Project Report Cover Page University at Buffalo Campus Garden Water Solutions Austin Reese External Affiliation/Business Partner Project Name Mark Geraci Austin Izzo Alec Ruby Engineer's for a Sustainable World Portable Rainwater Collection System Environmental area/opportunity addressed Water Quality and Conservation Please provide a brief one paragraph summary of your project: This project aims to address watering a campus garden through a rainwater collection system. Both portability and sustainability are two major components incorporated in the system's design. Additionally, a model was developed to evaluate the efficiency of the system. This model can be used for rain collection systems for gardens in New York State. The rain collection project promotes sustainability both environmentally and socially.
Portable Rainwater Collection System 1. Problem Statement The problem for this particular project was to sustainably provide a reliable source of water to a small garden (roughly 225 square feet). The garden is located in a large open field and has no access to its own water supply. This requires Garden Club members to rely upon facility employees to fill 50 gallon barrels with water which the club then uses to water the plants. During the summer, when Garden Club members are on break, facility employees are asked to water the plants on a regular basis. These additional responsibilities are often forgotten by facilities ground crews, and thus a water shortage is common with the campus garden. Another key issue that needs to be addressed is the garden of interest will be moving within the next five years. Therefore, the solution to address campus garden s water supply related problems must be portable enough to be moved at least one time. A portable rainwater collection system was designed to address the key current problems. The goal of this project is to benefit the environment and community associated with the campus. The rainwater collection system will reduce the environmental impact by reducing energy, fuel, and water requirements in properly watering the garden. By reducing the amount of time it takes to water the garden, a larger focus can be drawn to planting additional crops. This impact can be extended to increasing the quality of life on campus through sustainable efforts. For example, if there is sufficient crops, the university can use the produce in the dining meals. Additionally, students, faculty and staff can use the collection system to promote and learn about sustainability. Therefore, the overall impact on the university is both economical and sustainable. Our project aims to address a problem of water collection while positively impact the 1
environment, society, and economy. 2. Project Summary/ Background People are faced with the challenge of finding effective and sustainable ways to collect and use rainwater across the world. Residential rainwater collection systems often use already in-place gutter and roofing systems (Jones and Hunt, 2010). The rainwater is collected from a diversion in the down stem pipe coming from the roof and inputted into a water storage container. Storage tanks for the water collection systems can range in size depending on the size of the roof structure collecting water and the use for this water (A Layman s Guide to Clean Water, 2015). Common uses for rainwater collected on both residential and industrial systems include rain gardens, fire protection reservoirs, and in home use (Texas A&M Agrilife Extension, 2016). Extensive research took place in solutions to the water supply problem for campus garden. The first suggested solution was a temporary pipe network which would pump water from a nearby lake to the garden. There were numerous setbacks to this design plan. The garden is 100 feet from the lake with an uphill slope, making it difficult to transfer the amount of water needed. With this solution portability would be significantly hindered. Another concept would be to use an existing structure s roof to collect water. In our case there would have to have been hundreds of feet of piping along with a pump to transport the water from the closest existing structure. This network of pipes would then be obsolete after the garden is moved. After research, using a portable rainwater collection structure was determined to be the most sustainable design. The structure utilizes four roofs to maximize the surface area able to collect rainwater. The center roof is the highest of the roofs standing approximately at 8ft tall in 2
the front and declining to 6ft in the rear. The center roof drains onto the rear roof, which is then collected in storage barrels at the lowest point of the rear roof. Both side roofs drain into their own water barrels for storage at the end of each roof through use of a gutter system. The structure has seven 55-gallon rain barrels which allow for a maximum storage of 385 gallons. All barrels are connected through use of garden hose, the water bib is located at the rear. By placing concrete blocks underneath the 55 gallon drums at the end of each side roof, constant water pressure will be kept at the water valve located in the rear because it is then the lowest point. A significant portion of the design process was spent on making the design portable. All roofs are compact and are assembled as modular sections that are fastened to the main structure using bolts instead of screws or nails to ensure repeatability needed for deconstruction and construction. Hooks have been installed on all of the center structure s 4x4s making it possible to hang the roof structures up, keeping the structure together as one unit. The brackets located on the bottom of the center structure s 4x4s are fitted to easily mount to four wheels making it possible to move the structure as a whole unit. There are numerous applications of a portable rainwater collection system in today s urban environment. Some examples include; uses in concert venues only open during summer months, community gardens, and fairs/festivals. The portability and simplicity of the design is ideal for these temporary uses. Additionally, our team developed a program to evaluate the efficiency of the rainwater collection system. This program can be used for any rainwater collection system for gardens in New York State. The functionality of this program is versatile and can encourage sustainable 3
efforts through easier design practices. Our team was able to collaborate with the Garden Club to more specifically define the problem and set objectives. We were able to work with members of the machine shop at the University and University Facilities to confirm the structural integrity of the design along with manufacturing the structure. Additionally, Riverside Chemical donated 7 rain barrels to make our project possible which will be used for water storage. 3. Relationship to Sustainability The project has a wide range of sustainable impacts. The central environmental issue addressed by the project is the conservation of water. The system is able to repurpose 1292 gallons of water for the garden to use. The concept of water repurposing is one that can be implemented by any group or individual. As the density of developing regions increase water repurposing is becomes an increasingly important response to limited water supplies. The structure also provides a communal space where the Garden Club and other organizations can hold meetings. At these meetings people will be exposed to rainwater collection and sustainable water usage. This has the potential to expose students, faculty, and community members to water repurposing. Additionally, there are long term positive impacts that improve sustainability. One key benefit is the amount of energy saved by using the rainwater collection system. With the expansion of the garden comes the possibility of the campus dining services more widely using the fruits and veggies that are grown on campus. This would dramatically reduce the carbon footprint of the the food that would otherwise have to be shipped. 4
Another benefit of the design is that the materials used have a minimal impact on the environment where installed. It will be placed in an open field relatively close to the garden, therefore the grass directly underneath the roofs and underneath the barrels will be the only effected. However, no permanent structures are being placed in the earth, there will be no waste excreted into the ground and no wildlife will be displaced. The rainwater collection system aims to promote sustainability in a multitude of environments. Through the reduced use of water and energy, the collection system is a sustainable solution to the garden watering. This project could have both short and long term impacts that contribute to further developing sustainable practices throughout the campus and community. The program developed to evaluate the collection systems serves as a model for other New York State collection systems. The availability of this program promotes sustainability beyond the campus. 4. Materials and Methods Materials used in the design proved to be one of the key components of the designing process. The weight of the structure needed to be kept to a minimum to ensure portability, at the same time keeping the durability needed to withstand high winds, temperature fluctuations, and precipitation of Buffalo, NY. Our team also wanted to ensure minimal material or space were wasted during construction. Throughout designing and building each team member has specific duties highlighting their strengths. One team member has significant building and AutoCAD experience was in charge of the initial design, and modeling of the structure. By modeling the structure in 5
AutoCAD we were able to visualize the design, and ensure that we were using every part of the design to its fullest. Another team member who has experience in both building and billing, worked to develop the design. This same member was in charge of developing an inventory of the parts needed for the creation of a detailed budget. One member, being the leader of the team, has significant connections through facilities and funding. Therefore, he was responsible for communicating between the P2I team, Facilities and our club advisor to ensure everyone was on the same page. He also ensured that the design was meeting P2I competition guidelines. The final team member is proficient in Matlab and developed an intuitive program for rain water collection structures of varying sizes throughout the state of New York. He also played a key role in ensuring the team was meeting P2I guidelines. To evaluate the results of the project, a graphical user interface (GUI) computer program was created. The program allows the user to select which region of New York they live in, and how long their growing season will be. The program uses past daily precipitation data collected from 10 different areas in New York. This allows the user to select a begin and end date of their growing season and receive a more accurate estimation. Lastly the user inputs their water storage capacity and 2 of the following 3 values, roof area in square feet, garden area in square feet, or the efficiency they desire. The program then generates the third value the user did not input along with the number of gallons of water saved, the anticipated remaining water in the tank on the end date, and the amount of water refused by storage limits. The structure s design went through significant changes throughout the completion of the project. A major milestone was the creation of the three roof design. This design more than doubled our water collection capacity along with creating a large amount of usable space for the campus garden club. Another 6
structural milestone was the use of the wheels and foldable roof design. By folding the roofs and using wheels the structure can be packed up and moved to any nearby location. Lastly, after reaching out to local companies in the area a donation of 7, 55-gallon drums were received. This donation saved over $455 and provided the opportunity to invest in other materials. Figure 4.1 Design of Rainwater Collection Structure 5. Results Evaluation and Demonstration The program our team developed was used to determine the results of the rainwater collection system. By inputting the area of the garden as 225 square feet and the roof surface area of 136 square feet. According to the program the system will provide 85% of the water needed for the garden and will annually save over 1292 gallons of municipal water. Figure 5.1 indicates the system is 85 percent efficient. 7
Figure 5.1 Collection System Calculator The program accounted for a 15% loss of water collected by the roof due to evaporation and runoff. The program also assumed that the garden requires.623 gallons of water per sq ft per week (UC, 2015). Although the design of the project was tailored specifically to the garden. The graphical user interface (GUI) can be applied to any rainwater collection system for a garden. The program allows an individual to determine how many square feet their structure's roof needs to be, how many square feet their garden can be, or how efficient the rain water collection system. The user simply has to input two of the values listed above and the third value will be calculated by the program. The program can be useful for home gardeners or other gardens using rainwater. The user friendly aspect of the GUI has the potential to motivate people to utilize a rainwater collection system for their own home. In most situations creating a structure solely for 8
the purpose of rainwater collection does not have much economic incentive. However, it is relatively simple for an individual to attach a rainwater barrel at the end of their gutter system. The GUI allows for the individual to determine how large their collection system needs to be based on their geographical region and roof size. It also allows one to determine how large a garden their rainwater could support, or how efficient the system would be at providing water for that garden. The final project cost was $889.00. A conservative payback was calculated to be 6.75 years. The payback assumed that facility employees made $15 per hour and spent 10 hours a year attending to the garden's water needs. The structure provides 85% of the water and therefore the facility employees will only need to spend 1.5 hours a year on the garden. The payback also took into account the gallons of water saved each year. The cost of water in the City of Buffalo is $0.00316 per gallon (City of Buffalo, 2015). The system saves about 1292 gallons of water, saving $4.08 per year in water costs. This would save approximately 35 MJ or 9.72 kwh of energy over the growing season (based on 7.17 MJ/m 3 for drinking water treatment, Santana et al., 2014). In total the project is estimated to save the university about $131.58 dollars per year. This project aimed to create a sustainable solution for watering a campus garden. Using the designed rainwater collection system, the University will no longer be responsible to provide one hundred percent of the water needed for the campus garden. Along with not having to sacrifice time of their employees for supplying the water. Additionally, the university will no longer need to use the drinking water supply, which requires pumping and transportation. The water saved can then be used for other purposes throughout campus. By having a steady supply of usable water the campus garden club will be able to focus on planting and maintaining crops. 9
In turn, as the campus garden grows in the future there is a possibility that they will be able to supply a significant amount of resources for consumptions in the dining hall. This would both decrease the university s carbon footprint while simultaneously saving university dining money. This project aims to lessen the current environmental impact of watering the garden as well as benefit the university and students through increased crop growth and lessened emissions. This project will be available for display at the exhibition event. Additionally, we will have poster available. 6. Conclusion Water conservation is a growing concern nationwide, and it is becoming increasingly important to find sustainable methods to both capture and conserve usable water. This design is a clear demonstration of a sustainable solution that will both help to conserve water, along with reducing the carbon footprint at University of Buffalo. The project will save up to 1292 gallons of municipal water and by collecting the water on site it reduces the amount of labor required to operate the garden drastically. Also by utilizing otherwise untouched, unused water for a practical application this design proves that rainwater is a valuable resource when harvested. Due to the versatility, and capability of the GUI program, gardens across New York can use this program to estimate their rainwater collection facility s efficiency. The program can be utilized by any group or organization interested in creating a rainwater collection system for a garden. At this time, the program is only designed for regions in New York State but precipitation data can be added from any region in the nation. Although weather is highly unpredictable data from multiple years of data can be added in turn increasing the accuracy of 10
the program. Future research aims to evaluate roofing materials that would improve the efficiency of the water collected. Along with greater research into materials to decrease the weight of the combined structure. Additionally, our team would like to consider the implementation of an automatic irrigation system attached to the current water storage which could then make the entire garden almost completely autonomous. 11
7. References A Layman s Guide to Clean Water, 2015). http://www.clean-water-for- laymen.com/collecting-rain-water.html City of New Buffalo, 2015. http://www.cityofnewbuffalo.org/utilitybills.asp UC, 2016. http://ucanr.edu/sites/scmg/files/185639.pdf Jones, M., & Hunt, W. (2010). Performance of rainwater harvesting systems in the southeastern United States. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 54, 623 629. M.V.E. Santana, Q. Zhang, and J.R. Mihelcic. Influence of Water Quality on the Embodied Energy of Drinking Water Treatment. Environmental Science and Technology, 48, 3084-3091, 2014. Texas A & M, 2016. http://rainwaterharvesting.tamu.edu 12