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Top: In the city of Santa Monica, a 12,000-gallon rainwater harvesting cistern was installed at Virginia Avenue Park; this collected water will be highly treated for indoor flushing. Photo: neal ShaPiro Middle: Harvested rainfall in this 12,000-gallon cistern will be used for low-volume landscape irrigation at a multi-family residential facility in the city of Santa Monica. Photo: neal ShaPiro Bottom: A 1,000 gallon cistern supplies harvested rainfall for the drip irrigation system and a birdbath in a 600 square foot educational garden pavilion in Menard, Texas. Photo: Billy Kniffen DBM ing system will need. Pre-filters can be self-cleaning, which requires minimal maintenance and provides highly oxygenated water. The correct pre-filter will significantly reduce the need to clean the storage tank. 2. The system should reduce any turbulence while the oxygenated water is introduced into the tank. Every rainfall storage tank will grow a bio-film that serves as an internal ecosystem, often assisting in cleaning the storage tank water. Disturbing this bio-film by simply "dumping" the water into the tank will not allow for this micro-ecosystem to flourish. Using the proper components will allow the water to gently enter the tank from the bottom and replenish the oxygen throughout the tank. 3. A properly designed rainfall harvesting system will extract the water from just below the surface of the water in the storage tank. 4. A storage tank needs an overflow, either to the landscape or storm drain system. An overflow is as simple as allowing the water to exit the tank once it becomes full. An overflow device that uses a skimmer removes floating matter such as pollen from the tank. The overflow should have some type of device to keep fauna from entering the tank. Providing a high quality of water to the pump and any additional purification or filtration devices required for specific applications is essential for any rainwater harvesting system. Using this simple four step process will ensure your rainwater harvesting system is of the highest quality and will require minimal maintenance, regardless of the size of the system. The use of rainfall for potable and non-potable applications offers a significant opportunity in water management to focus on sustainable local water resources, and to maximize what we have locally to supplement or displace potable water, leaving more freshwater in the environment. LC ____________________________ Neal Shapiro, supervisor of the Watershed Section of the Office of Sustainability and the Environment, City of Santa Monica, is also the secretary of the American Rainwater Catchment Systems Association. Shapiro oversees water conservation & efficiency programs, and watershed management programs with a focus on rainwater/ stormwater harvesting and use/reuse in association with post-construction structural Low Impact Development BMPs. ARCSA is a national organization dedicated to promoting rainwater catchment systems in the United States. Its mission is to foster sustainable rainwater harvesting practices to help solve potable, non-potable, stormwater, water quality and energy challenges throughout the world. More information is available at arcsa.org. The opinions stated in this article are of the author only and do not necessarily reflect those of the City of Santa Monica or ARCSA. November 2013 21