Print this pageRainwater Harvesting Fundamentals
John M. Rattenbury, P.E., CIPE,
LEEDap
Course Outline
This course will provide the student with some detailed knowledge regarding time-tested and reliable methods of collecting, storing, transferring and treating rain water for use as a substitute for potable water supplies. Use of rain water is most commonly for flushing plumbing fixtures (i.e. sewage conveyance), irrigation water and cooling tower make-up water. The course will provide an overview of rainwater as a resource, conditions in a cistern “water column” that either help or inhibit water health, and describe a four step process for rain water collection. A typical rainwater collection system will be discussed with each element described regarding function and installation. Final treatment if the stored rainwater will be described with a typical schematic. Finally, a sample calculation method will be described to determine optimal cistern sizing as well as the quantity of rainwater that can be captured and used in an average year.
This course includes a multiple-choice quiz at the end, which is designed to enhance the understanding of the course materials.
Learning
Objective
At the conclusion of this course, the student will:
- Understand the importance of the treatment of ran water before it enters a cistern for storage;
- Understand the natural microbial processes that occur within the cistern that help water quality or inhibit water quality;
- Be familiar with the processes and components used to effectively collect quality rain water;
- Understand the function and benefits of the vertical mesh screening process used before storage in a cistern;
- Understand the importance of the methods of depositing water into the cistern and transferring it out for final treatment;
- Be familiar with the contents of European Standard DIN 1989-1 for rainwater harvesting systems;
- Review two methods of cistern sizing to compare the effectiveness of each; and
- Understand how rainwater capture is incorporated into LEED template calculations for water use reduction credits.
Intended Audience
This course is intended for architects, engineers and contractors.
Benefit to Attendees
Attendee of this course will be able to design, review and evaluate the merits of rainwater harvesting system designs in the course of their professional practice.
Course Introduction
Rainwater harvesting is a method of collecting rain water from the roofs of buildings or other catchment surfaces and sending it to storage for future use. Although rain water is essentially purified water from the sky (i.e. condensed water vapor) when it hits the catchment surface and flows into drainage pipes, certain contaminants will be carried along. Reducing these contaminants is the key to maintaining good water quality for its use as irrigation water, fixture flushing water, and in some cases, drinking water for homes. This course will provide useful techniques for maximizing rainwater harvesting system performance.
Course Content
In this lesson, you are required to download and study the following documents:
Rainwater Harvesting Fundamentals
DIN 1989-1:2001-10 “Rainwater harvesting Systems – Part 1
Please
click on the above underlined hypertexts to view, download or print the documents
for your study. Because of the large file size, we recommend that you first
save the file to your computer by right clicking the mouse and choosing "Save
Target As ...", and then open the file in Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Quiz
Once you finish studying the above course content, you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.
DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDH Center or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered architect and/or professional engineer/surveyor. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at their own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.
