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Oregon School Showcases Demo Rainwater System
by Doug Pushard
 The
DaVinci Living Water Garden project is a collaboration between DaVinci
Arts Middle School and Urban
Water Works, a non-profit organization. The goal of the
project is to educate students and citizens about storm water
runoff and water quality, while also using the arts to celebrate
the aesthetic properties of water.
The
DaVinci project reroutes storm water runoff from roofs and parking
lots, into cisterns and a 7,200 square foot water garden, and
was designed and built by the students,  teachers
and parents of this school. Built on the site of an abandoned
tennis court; the system includes a system of cisterns, pond,
constructed wetland, and bioremediation swale that collects, cleans
and absorbs 100% of the water that it captures. This garden reduces
runoff entering the Willamette River; provides recreational and
educational opportunities for the school and surrounding community;
and provides a model for storm water diversion that could be implemented
by households.
The
most profound impact is the significant reduction in storm water
runoff from this site. Allowing that water to percolate into the
ground at the school brings positive results to the local water
table, while supplying more than adequate water to support the
plants in the garden. Surface water in the garden provides habitat
for beneficial insects and support a greater diversity of plant
and wildlife.
 The
harvesting rainwater system consists of two (2) tanks capable
of holding 5,000 gallons (668 cu. ft.) of water. The tanks are
above ground gravity fed from about 2,840 sq. ft. roof area. In
an area that gets over 30+ inches of rain a year, just 3"
of rain can fill the tanks! Overflow from the tanks flow into
a pond. The cisterns supply a gravity fed irrigation system and
supply irrigation water during the dry summer months.
The students at DaVinci, working with lead teacher Dan Evans and
other teachers, studied water through a one year curriculum and
held a community design workshop. During school year 2001-02,
they refined the design and started construction. They had help
from volunteer ecological designers, landscape architects, hydrologists,
civil engineers.
The
garden itself is a huge asset for the school, providing living
laboratory and educational opportunities, recreational opportunities
and a much needed green space for the surrounding neighbor. The
process of building the garden has created a network of relationships
between students and parents; students and outside professionals;
between school and neighborhood; and school and city/region. The
students who have participated have a greater understanding of
their role in saving or destroying our planet, and the empowering
experience of transforming their immediate environment in a lasting,
beneficial way.
This
garden is a simple, understandable model of sustainable methods
for cleaning and reusing harvested rainwater, which can be reproduced
by businesses and homeowners alike for a reasonable amount of
time and money; plus it provides both monetary and aesthetic value
for years to come.
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