Rainwater Harvesting System for Sustainable Building Water Reuse
Overview
Burt Process Equipment designed and supplied a Rainwater Harvesting System to support non-potable water reuse in a sustainable building project. The system was engineered to treat and store captured rainwater for reuse in building operations such as cooling, flushing, and irrigation. The skid-based system included integrated filtration, UV sanitization, chemical dosing, level control, and automated distribution—all coordinated through a central PLC-based control panel.
Industry
Sustainable Building Infrastructure
Challenge
Non-Potable Water Reuse
Solution
Objectives
The system was required to:
- Accept and filter rainwater from a cistern (by others)
- Deliver 30 GPM @ 80 PSI to a 1,000-gallon clean water holding tank
- Provide automated filtration, UV sanitization, and dye injection
- Enable recirculation during off hours to maintain water quality
- Supply filtered water to the building via a booster pump pack (by others)
- Include distribution valves and flow sensors for final point-of-use delivery
- Floating filter suction assemblies for clean water draw from the cistern
- Submersible feed pumps with PVC cooling sleeves for reliability
- 1,000-gallon polypropylene holding tank with full instrumentation
- Skid-mounted Rainwater Harvesting System filter/treatment unit with:
- 316SS UV system
- Automatic backwash filter
- 55-gallon dye injection tank with pump and containment
- Recirculation loop with stainless pump and automated valves
- PLC-controlled NEMA 4X panel featuring:
- Touchscreen HMI
- BACnet communications
- Emergency stop and alarm system
- Pre-wired integration for external instrumentation and flow controls
- Loose-supplied butterfly valves and flow meters for use downstream of the booster pumps
Key Features & Specifications
- Flow Rate: 30 GPM @ 80 PSI
- Cistern Pumping: 2 Submersible pumps with floating filters
- Filtration: Nylon 50-micron filter with automatic backwash
- Disinfection: 316SS UV light with automatic wiper
- Chemical Injection: 55-gallon dye tank with peristaltic pump and spill containment
- Holding Tank: 1,000-gallon pigmented polypropylene with multiple fittings and sensors
- Recirculation: Stainless centrifugal pump with automatic control
- Instrumentation: Ultrasonic level sensors, LSF float switches, pressure fittings
- Control Panel: NEMA 4X, Siemens PLC + HMI, BACnet, emergency stop, alarm, fully programmed
Distribution Hardware: Pneumatic butterfly valves and paddle wheel flow meters (loose-supplied)
Outcome
- Delivered a self-contained water reuse system to reduce municipal water demand
- System was factory-tested, shipped pre-wired and pre-plumbed for efficient installation
- Provided robust automation and monitoring for water treatment operations
- Contributed to the building’s sustainability and water conservation goals
- Included two days of on-site startup, training, and commissioning
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