RAINWATER HARVESTING

A water harvesting system gathers rainwater or stormwater from one or more building locations such as rooftops, parking lots, and air conditioning units to store, filter and distribute water for your specific non-potable use. The SkyHarvester® product line from Watertronics provides a single-source solution for commercial water harvesting systems for new or existing building sites.

Our sales and engineering group works hand in hand with your Architect or Engineer to provide custom solutions with everything you need to harvest, store, filter and control the distribution of your own water supply.

POPULAR APPLICATIONS

SPLASH
PADS

SPORTS
COMPLEX

ROOFTOP
GARDENS

TOILET
FLUSHING

VEHICLE
WASHING

HOW IT WORKS

1. Catchment

The catchment area can be any surface that water falls upon or any device that discards water. Hard surface roofs, green roofs, and parking lots are a few of the most common catchment areas. Others include synthetic turf, children’s splash pads, cooling towers, and air conditioning units.

Rainwater from hard surface roofs can be used for:

Irrigation
Toilet flushing
Wash systems

Rainwater from parking lots and green roofs is typically used only for irrigation. We employ various treatment methods if working with parking lots or green roof water, in order to reach the standards for interior building use. When looking at a potential rainwater harvesting site, one can assume 620 gallons of water per 1,000 square feet of hard-surface collection area per one inch rain event. However, the world is an imperfect place and efficiency factors must be added to account for inefficiencies in the conveyance system and tank pre-filters.

2. Pre-Filtration

A pre-filter is used to remove dirt, debris, and organic matter from the harvested water. This keeps the tank clean resulting in better water quality and less tank maintenance. The best way to filter the water is at the source. The better the filtration upstream, the less money/effort will be required for filtration downstream.

Most all filters work on an efficiency principle, which means that depending on flow rate, all or a portion of the water is filtered before entering the storage tank. Screen sizes can vary from 350 micron to 700 micron depending on actual filter. Larger units that collect water off a parking lot have larger screen openings and typically include a form of oil/water separation.

Some filters can be automatically cleaned (or flushed) by sending pressurized water from the pump station to a spray head located on the filter body. Flushes are initiated via a daily timer on the SkyHarvester control operator interface.

The filters below are two frequently used options in SkyHarvester systems. Each filter uses a stainless steel screen to prevent debris from entering the storage tank. These filters have a screen size of 350-700 micron and are self-cleaning / flushing units.

Below shows a complete SkyHarvester system installed at Coca-Cola Distribution in Lexington, Kentucky. Being a single-source supplier, our scope begins at the pre-filter upstream of the storage tank and ends the connection to the water distribution system. We integrate the pre-filter itself, storage tank(s), pump station, discharge and treatment, and the controls to operate the entire system seamlessly.

This close-up below of pre-filtration at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee is located in a below-ground parking garage where water is filtered from seven stories above. It is then delivered to the below ground storage tank just on the other side of the concrete wall for landscape irrigation.

3. Pumping

4. Storage

Selecting the proper storage vessel is perhaps the most important decision that must be made as it directly determines the overall effectiveness of your water harvesting system. Tank size, material, and placement can mean the difference between running on 5% or 95% harvested water and are determined via a formula that accounts for average rainfall, collection area, and other available water sources, as well as consumption requirements.

SkyHarvester offers the following storage options:

Below Ground Composite

Above Ground HDPE

Above Ground Galvanized Corrugated Metal

5. Controls

6. Post Filtration & Water Treatment

We custom design the post-filtration and water treatment to meet each project’s final water use requirements. If used inside the building, disinfection of the water is often necessary. Standard drip irrigation typically requires filtration to the 100 micron level through screening. Other water treatment methods available include UV, Chlorination, Media Filtration, Ozone, Ultra-Filtration, Reverse Osmosis, and Deionization.

7. Replenishing Water

Most of our customers include a replenishment water source in their systems in order to protect against water shortages. It is important to carefully consider the design of the replenishment water system, as errors here could lead to major liabilities for the customer – particularly in the case of toilet flushing applications. Having a reliable replenishment water source is important for protecting the health of various valuable investments, such as expensive landscape plantings and greenery.

RAINWATER HARVESTING SYSTEMS

SH-80

Pre-packaged engineered pump station featuring integrative controls, filtration and water treatment. This system is available for submersible and flooded suction applications, can pump up to 80 GPM, filter water to 25 micron, and disinfect water with ultraviolet light to a LOG 4 reduction of common microbial contaminants.

SH-Micro

With the ability to pump up to 60 GPM, filter water to 100 micron, and control a back-up water supply in the event harvested water is not available, the SH-Micro can deliver harvested water for drip and micro-spray irrigation systems at a constant pressure under varying flow rates. Pre-packaged station features submersible pump, VFD pressure regulation, discharge filtration and level controls.

Custom Applications

Our design and engineering teams work hand in hand with your Architect or Engineer to provide custom solutions with everything you need to harvest, store, filter and control the distribution of your own water supply.

View Gallery of Custom Projects >

ACCESSORY PRODUCTS

WATERVISION 2.0

Cutting edge, cloud based telemetry provides anywhere access from viewing simple status dashboards and checking safety alerts to making critical adjustments remotely in real time.

Learn More >

COMPOSITE ENCLOSURE

Composite Enclosures provide secure equipment protection in a 100% non-corrosive, sound attenuating, and weatherproof structure. Ideal for applications such as pump station houses, chiller units, chemical storage and filtration skids.

ELECTRONIC BUTTERFLY VALVE

Electronic Butterfly Valve (EBV) complements VFD controls by pressure regulating each across-the-line pump, eliminating surges, check valve slam, and air entrainment, providing 100% backup pressure regulation in the event of a VFD fault.

Watch EBV Video >

MECHANICAL SEAL

Complete maintenance-free mechanical seal assembly requires no packing adjustments, has permanently lubricated and sealed bearings for perfect shaft alignment, and eliminates water spray from pump house floors.