EVALUATION OF RAINWATER HARVESTING WITH CLOUD-BASED INFRASTRUCTURE AS A STORMWATER CONTROL MEASURE

Although rainwater harvesting systems are designed to capture and use stormwater, use of this practice as a stormwater control measure (SCM) in Colorado is rarely seen as a viable alternative. First, the practice does not typically provide the volume required to capture the water quality capture volume (WQCV) when it rains because the cistern may already be full. Second, western water law dictates that diverting and using rainwater for beneficial use is illegal without a water right. This study pairs rainwater harvesting with cloud-based infrastructure in an effort to increase available volume in the cistern when there is a forecast for precipitation. This type of automated system can be used to address stormwater treatment using a smaller footprint than would be required for conventional methods because it better utilizes the volume of SCMs in series. Additionally, communities with combined sewer overflows (CSOs) can use this type of system to "beat the peak" and reduce the volume of untreated wastewater entering the receiving water. UDFCD is using this data to determine if this type of configuration, utilizing automated controls at the outlet, is an effective tool in managing stormwater, and if this in combination with rainwater harvesting provides a more effective control measure than rainwater harvesting alone. Three years of data have been collected and analyzed.