Integrating Rainwater Harvesting for Innovative Stormwater Control

Increasingly stringent water use, local regulations and site approval processes are driving innovation in the application of harvesting systems tom meet site stormwater management challenges. With rainwater and site water harvesting becoming a staple in sustainable development and green building design, the opportunity to move beyond "bolt on" harvesting systems to those fully integrated with site stormwater infrastructure is being realized through the application of active and real-time control electronics, web-enabled applications and progressive design techniques. Integrating harvesting and stormwater management systems can provide both water conservation and stormwater flow mitigation in a single, streamlined system, reducing overall site stormwater control costs significantly. This paper presents design concepts, techniques and equipment requirements for incorporating this integrated approach in project water resource planning, resulting in a new tool for LID practitioners where water conservation is a key objective along with compulsory stormwater management designs. This discussion presents the new thinking on design methods for integrating harvesting into site stormwater management plans and techniques for quantifying performance and benefits, resulting in a key tool for water resource and stormwater management professionals and regulators.