San Francisco Adopts Rainwater Harvesting Rules: Thanks to the San Francisco Department of Building Inspection, Department of Public Health, and Public Utilities Commission, homeowners may now legally divert untreated rainwater for irrigation, toilet flushing, and other non-potable uses. As far as we know, San Francisco is the first city in California to formally adopt this practice.
Be the proud owner of a new rain barrel – compliments of the SFPUC’s Rainwater Harvesting Program! Attend a rainwater harvesting workshop at the Big Blue Bucket Eco-Fair and enter a raffle to win a free rain barrel (San Francisco residents only — one hundred barrels will be given away at the event). In addition, you’ll learn how to attach a rain barrel to your roof downspout, and how to link several rain barrels together to increase storage volume.
Big Blue Bucket Eco-Fair: Saturday, October 11, 10am – 2pm, at the SFPUC Southeast Treatment Plant (entrance at Jerrold Avenue and Phelps Street).
Rainwater harvesting workshop times (fifty-person capasity limit per workshop):
10:30am
11:30am
12:30pm
1:30pm
Visit: http://www.bigbluebucket.org/ for details.
The Public Utilities Commission, the Department of Public Health, and the Department of Building Inspection have partnered to encourage the safe use of rainwater for irrigation and toilet flushing without requiring special treatment. Systems designed to collect and treat rainwater for any potable uses will be inspected and permitted on a case- by-case basis.
What is rainwater harvesting?
Rainwater harvesting is the practice of collecting and using rainwater from hard surfaces such as roofs. It is an age-old technology that is growing in popularity as people look for ways to use water resources more wisely. Communities in ancient Rome were designed with individual cisterns and paved courtyards, which captured rainwater to augment supply from the city’s aqueducts.
Until recently, urban areas served by municipal water have tended to overlook rainwater as a water resource. San Francisco would like to change that by raising awareness about rainwater harvesting and promoting its use.
Why harvest rainwater?
When you install a rainwater harvesting system at home, you are helping to maintain the health and beauty of San Francisco’s urban watershed in many ways. By harvesting rainwater you:
- Keep relatively clean water out of the combined sewer system and make it available for use
- Reduce the energy and chemicals needed to treat stormwater in San Francisco’s combined sewer and the energy expended transporting water from far away
- Reduce the volume and peak flows of stormwater entering the sewer, thereby reducing flooding and combined sewer overflows
- Reduce the volume of potable water used for non-potable applications such as irrigation and toilet flushing
Getting Started:
Click here to download our rainwater harvesting brochure.
Resources:
Green Dean TV: Installing a Rain Harvester
YouTube: Rain Water
