News & Insights

Storage Tank Applications: Rainwater Collection

February 27, 2015 | Posted in Blog

Rainwater collection is a practice that’s quickly gaining popularity among facility owners. The basic premise is that a system is installed that allows the building to collect (also called harvest) rainwater. The water is stored in a storage tank for later use throughout a facility.

The idea is that instead of paying for water from a public utility, a facility can simply collect water for free when it rains. This water can be used for a number of things in a facility. Not only does this make financial sense, but it’s also environmentally friendly, as it reduces the amount of runoff in the environment, which contributes to erosion and degradation of the water quality of natural bodies of water. In this week’s blog, we’ll talk about how harvested rainwater can be used in a facility.

Rainwater Collection

Greywater
Greywater is water used in a number of plumbing processes in a facility. For example, greywater can be used to flush toilets or can be directed to the water closet for janitorial use. Tanks Direct has installed a number of rainwater harvesting systems for greywater projects:

  • A project for the Mathias Replacement Laboratory of the Smithsonian Institution, in which we installed one 720 gallon steel aboveground storage tank, along with a UV filtration and dye injection system. The system provides greywater for urinal flushing and water closets.
  • A project for the Center for Strategic and International Studies, where we installed a 1,000-gallon underground storage tank, media filtration, UV disinfection, and dye injection for a system that supplies toilets with water.
  • A project for the National Naval Medical Center – Warrior Transition Unit, where we installed 3 25,000 gallon single-wall fiberglass storage tanks that collect rainwater for toilet flushing.

HVAC
Water is an essential component of many HVAC processes in a facility. However, water is frequently wasted in these processes, when it could be recollected for later use. For example, air handling units produce condensate water from their cooling coils. This water is usually allowed to drain into the sewer system, but it can also be recollected and used as make-up water in the cooling towers or greywater.

Tanks Direct installed a chilled water recovery tank in a project for the Abingdon Heights Condominium buildings. The 3,000-gallon aboveground steel storage tank recovers condensate from air handling units and redistributes it for use as greywater.

To learn more about rainwater collection systems, contact Tanks Direct today.

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