Posters, Maps & Illustrations: INNOVATIVE STORMWATER PROGRAMS
photo courtesy of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission Stormwater Management Program (external link)
The ancient practice of rainwater harvest is uncommon in urban areas that have municipal water services. Traditional infrastructure treats rainwater as a nuisance that must be disposed of as quickly as possible. However, San Francisco’s Public Utilities Commission has set the stage for rain to become an important resource rather than a waste.
Confronted with chronic stormwater problems and a state-wide drought, San Francisco has launched a unique rainwater harvesting program. The city-wide initiative has all the expected features - discounted rain barrels, how-to guides, and workshops – but that’s just the beginning. Public officials have also laid the foundation for rainwater catchment to play a much bigger role in the city.
To jumpstart the new initiative, Mayor Newsom announced a pilot program offering San Franciscans their first ready-to-install 60-gallon rain barrel at a greatly discounted price. The new program was launched at an elementary school where a five-barrel, 275-gallon capacity rain catchment system had been installed along with a small vegetable garden.
The school’s demonstration system is as much a lesson for students as it is for their parents. With sharp increases expected in the cost of food and water, once families see how easy and cheap it is to harvest rainwater they might be inspired to install their own systems in order to get free water for home-grown produce. To this end, the city also offers workshops on how to "re-purpose" a used food barrel, converting it to a rain barrel for a fraction of the cost of a new one.
But the big news is that residents are now being encouraged think about using rainwater – instead of clean drinking water – to flush their toilets. With California entering its second year of severe drought, people will soon realize that they simply cannot afford to keep flushing clean drinking water - and money - down the drain. (Toilets and laundry together account for about half of household water use.)
Public officials are betting that once people get their feet wet they’ll want to add more rain barrels – or even install a larger harvesting system for nonpotable indoor uses – and the city is doing everything possible to smooth that transition.
In October ’08 the mayor signed a Memorandum of Understanding between the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, the Department of Public Health and the Department of Building Inspection “clarifying the standards for permissible rainwater harvesting systems and re-use of rainwater for nonpotable (non-drinking) water uses without treatment.”
According to the press release: “In the second year of a drought, and as the Bay Area and entire state push for greater conservation and new alternative water sources, rainwater harvesting offers a simple way to conserve limited drinking water supplies. San Francisco’s combined sewer system, which treats both stormwater and sanitary sewage, will also benefit from increased rainwater system installation through minimized neighborhood flooding and reduced combined sewer discharges into the San Francisco Bay or Pacific Ocean during very major winter storms.”
Go to the San Francisco Rainwater Harvesting Program web page (external link)
Download the Rainwater Harvesting Brochure (external link)
How to build a multi-unit rain harvesting system
Also see their "silent film" Video:
Making Your Own Closed-Top, Multi-Unit Rain Barrel System, featuring Charlie Chaplin & Buster Keaton &
"several members of the SPUC's industrious staff."
Also see
Integrated Stormwater Management:
An ecological approach to street design by the
San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR)
This 2006 report likely played a major role in moving San Francisco towards "greening" its stormwater infrastructure.
The ancient practice of rainwater harvest is uncommon in urban areas that have municipal water services. Traditional infrastructure treats rainwater as a nuisance that must be disposed of as quickly as possible. However, San Francisco’s Public Utilities Commission has set the stage for rain to become an important resource rather than a waste.
Confronted with chronic stormwater problems and a state-wide drought, San Francisco has launched a unique rainwater harvesting program. The city-wide initiative has all the expected features - discounted rain barrels, how-to guides, and workshops – but that’s just the beginning. Public officials have also laid the foundation for rainwater catchment to play a much bigger role in the city.
To jumpstart the new initiative, Mayor Newsom announced a pilot program offering San Franciscans their first ready-to-install 60-gallon rain barrel at a greatly discounted price. The new program was launched at an elementary school where a five-barrel, 275-gallon capacity rain catchment system had been installed along with a small vegetable garden.
The school’s demonstration system is as much a lesson for students as it is for their parents. With sharp increases expected in the cost of food and water, once families see how easy and cheap it is to harvest rainwater they might be inspired to install their own systems in order to get free water for home-grown produce. To this end, the city also offers workshops on how to "re-purpose" a used food barrel, converting it to a rain barrel for a fraction of the cost of a new one.
But the big news is that residents are now being encouraged think about using rainwater – instead of clean drinking water – to flush their toilets. With California entering its second year of severe drought, people will soon realize that they simply cannot afford to keep flushing clean drinking water - and money - down the drain. (Toilets and laundry together account for about half of household water use.)
Public officials are betting that once people get their feet wet they’ll want to add more rain barrels – or even install a larger harvesting system for nonpotable indoor uses – and the city is doing everything possible to smooth that transition.
In October ’08 the mayor signed a Memorandum of Understanding between the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, the Department of Public Health and the Department of Building Inspection “clarifying the standards for permissible rainwater harvesting systems and re-use of rainwater for nonpotable (non-drinking) water uses without treatment.”
According to the press release: “In the second year of a drought, and as the Bay Area and entire state push for greater conservation and new alternative water sources, rainwater harvesting offers a simple way to conserve limited drinking water supplies. San Francisco’s combined sewer system, which treats both stormwater and sanitary sewage, will also benefit from increased rainwater system installation through minimized neighborhood flooding and reduced combined sewer discharges into the San Francisco Bay or Pacific Ocean during very major winter storms.”
Go to the San Francisco Rainwater Harvesting Program web page (external link)
Download the Rainwater Harvesting Brochure (external link)
How to build a multi-unit rain harvesting system
Also see their "silent film" Video:
Making Your Own Closed-Top, Multi-Unit Rain Barrel System, featuring Charlie Chaplin & Buster Keaton &
"several members of the SPUC's industrious staff."
Also see
Integrated Stormwater Management:
An ecological approach to street design by the
San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR)
This 2006 report likely played a major role in moving San Francisco towards "greening" its stormwater infrastructure.
21st February 2010 · by
