Ecovie Rainwater Collection Systems

Case Studies

If you want to see real results from real situations, you are on the right page!  Here are some examples that show the range of results you can expect for each type of ECOVIE rainwater system.

Case 1 – Garden Watering System

A master gardener has a 55 gallon rain barrel for watering her extensive vegetable garden and annuals.  She finds that when it rains, it fills up really fast and overflows.  She knows that she’s missing out on a lot of water capture.   In addition, her rain barrel at it is also empty within a couple days after it rains.  She is tired of hauling water in cans to her flower beds raised vegetable beds.  She ends up using mostly city water for watering even though the rain barrel fills up on every rain storm.  She’s ready to upgrade.

An ECOVIE 1,000 gallon system does the trick.  It is placed under her deck out of site but with easy access.  Water from 1,500 square feet of her rooftop is screened and sent in underground pipes to her tank.  A 0.5 hp pump delivers  water to spigots placed conveniently everywhere she needs it.

Based on a normal rainfall year, she is able to meet 85% of her garden watering needs with the tank being empty only twice during her first year using the set up.  When the tank is full, it lasts around 2 weeks without any rain.  Being a resident of Atlanta, she saves over $350 on her water bill over the course of the year.

Case 2 – Irrigation System

Another Atlanta resident has $300 water bills in the summer time because he irrigates his beautiful lawn, perennials and annual accents.  He sees water rates going up and feels a little guilty using so much water with the water supply challenges in metro Atlanta.  In 2007 he abided by the strict watering ban (mostly) and saw plants die and grass turn brown.  He’s ready for a better solution and does not think drilling a well is a good way to go because it depletes the groundwater supply.

ECOVIE installed a 3,400 gallon underground cistern system and upgraded his irrigation with soil moisture control and increased drip irrigation.  He captures water from 3,500 square feet of roof which is screened through a self cleaning filter.  The system automatically switches to city water when the tanks are dry.  The controls are located in a basement utility room for ease of service.  There is a digital tank level read out to monitor how much rainwater is left.

In 2010, his water bill was reduced by 48,000 gallons which is worth $1450 representing a 70% reduction of his outdoor watering bill.  He has an ECOVIE sign in front indicating he’s using captured rainwater which will allow him to water when the next watering ban comes.

Case 3 – Irrigation System

Similar to above, this DeKalb County couple wants to be ahead of the curve for rising water rates.  DeKalb rates may double in the next few years.  In this case, the clients were doing a major landscape upgrade with a new pool.  He knows this is a perfect time to install a rainwater system, so he calls ECOVIE.

In this case, it is possible to catch water not only from the 4,000 square foot roof but also from a storm water flume which handles water from approximately 50,000 square feet of residential street pavement.  ECOVIE installs a 6” pipe to capture water from the flume as well as piping to capture roof water.  Using four above ground 2,600 tanks for a total of 10,400 gallons water is filtered using an industrial size self cleaning filter.  Water is connected to automatic irrigation and drip irrigation upgrades are installed.

Results for 2010 show that the entire the12,000 gallon monthly watering demand is met by the collection system.  There are no outdoor watering bills.  Annual water savings is 80,000 gallons.  Storm water diverted from the street to the tanks is prevented from causing erosion or water quality issues.

Case 4 – Potable Rainwater System

A family of 4 is moving to the Atlanta area and decides to build a new home which includes rainwater collection and other environmentally sustainable building features.  They would like to use the water indoors as well as for irrigation.  We talk through the pros and cons of using water indoors for all purposes (potable) versus non-potable only for toilet flushing and laundry.

The roof catchment is 3,000 square feet.  In addition, driveway and hard surface catchment adds another 2,000 square feet.  The building permit requires storm water abatement.  After talking with the city building permit department, we are able to qualify the rainwater collection system to meet these requirements.  This saves $6,000 because the standard infiltration trench that’s normally used is not required.

Indoor water use is projected to average 200 gallons per day for whole home use and 70 gallons per day for non-potable uses only.  Outdoor irrigation adds another 200 gallons per day during the summer using drought tolerant plants and extensive drip irrigation.   This equates to a total estimated demand of 121,000 gallons per year with an average water bill of $3,500 if we go with whole home rainwater and $2,100 for non-potable indoor uses only.

The system design is to use one 3,000 above ground tank for house catchment and another 3,000 gallon tank for driveway catchment.  The driveway tank will feed outdoor irrigation only while the roof tank will be used indoors first and then for irrigation if needed.  An automatic valve will switch to city water if either tank is empty.

The indoor water treatment system consists of sediment filtration, carbon filtration, and finally UV treatment.  The ECOVIE design is made to minimize maintenance and to assure reliability.

The projected water savings results are impressive.  Using 2010 as a basis (a slightly below average rainfall year), the projected water savings is 47,000 gallons ($1,360) for outdoor use, 66,000 gallons ($1,915) adding non-potable indoor use, and 97,000 gallons ($2,810) adding whole home potable use.

Based on the project cost and water savings along with wanting a clean source of water, the family chooses a full potable system.  The exciting news here is that because we can back out the cost of the infiltration trench and can save on installation with new construction, the cost of the ECOVIE system only adds $65 a month to the family’s monthly mortgage payment while their monthly water bills savings will be $230.  This positive cash flow situation is coupled with a financial payback of around 5 years.  The family is making a great investment while doing their part to reduce municipal water demand.