Categories: Events

Net Zero Water in Philly – Forum Nov 19th

This guest post comes from Jesce Walz, a Living Building Challenge Ambassador. With Greenbuild in Philadelphia this week, the Living Building Challenge and Net Zero Water Forum discuss stormwater management in our buildings.

The Living Building Challenge is “the most most rigorous design and construction standard in the world today. It is also a philosophy, advocacy platform and certification tool.”

Tomorrow, Tuesday, November 19th is a Net Zero Water Forum. The Net Zero Water Forum is a 4-hour in-depth review of the Living Building Challenge’s “Water Petal,” which is intended to redefine our relationship to water and ‘waste’ in the built environment.

What does this have to do with Philly? Everything.

Average annual rainfall in our city is 42” per year, which is fairly consistent throughout the year. Yet the consistent rain poses a problem: Stormwater runoff.

Last year, my storm drain became clogged and my partner and I had to snake it out. I was astounded to see that the rainwater went down this drain and through our household plumbing, where it combined with toilet and wash water in the sewer system. This is meant to go to a treatment plant, however, much of the runoff in the city ends up polluting Schuylkill and Delaware instead.

This problem can be turned into an opportunity: more than enough rain falls on my row home to supply my 3-person household with drinking, washing, and flush water year-round.

There are hundreds of examples worldwide proving that we can catch this water, filter and disinfect it, use it, and recycle it through plant filters or other re-use systems. These Net Zero water systems not only bear the load of stormwater runoff, they store and re-use nitrogen, use wetland plants to filter water and air, and use natural microbiology to digest the pharmaceuticals and chemicals that currently survive municipal water treatment systems.

What regulatory obstacles exist to stop this? It’s illegal. If I want to re-use water in my home to code, I have to dye it blue or green and can’t store it for more than 72 hrs. In my neighborhood, it is easier for an average resident to buy and sell the “purest retail-level heroin” in the country than to catch and reuse the water that falls on our own rooftops. On a deeper level, this is all connected, and I hope that we can work to bring change at all ends of the spectrum.

The city is taking some great steps to increase awareness about stormwater runoff; Philadelphia Water Department has even developed Green Cities Clean Waters to implement stormwater runoff tools. For our part, we’ve built a rain barrel system to water our raised beds. Although it is encouraging to see Green Cities Clean Water, I hope that we can take this further. Please check out the water forum this week to get the conversation started.

Net Zero Water Forum – November 19, 2013

Some questions that will be addressed at the forum: “How can decentralized water infrastructure be part of the solution? What regulatory obstacles exist? What needs to change in order to support net zero water and ecological water flow projects in the region?”

Appropriate for anyone working in the building industry, participants should already have an understanding of the Living Building Challenge. You can register online for the Net Zero Water Forum.

Where: The HUB, 30 South 17th Street Philadelphia, PA 19103

Workshop Overview:

8:30 – 9:15	Introduction, LBC Imperative Requirements and Big Picture
9:15 – 10:00	Deeper Dive – Onsite Water Collection, Storm and Wastewater Treatment
10:00 – 10:15	Discussion and Biobreak
10:15 – 11:30	Onsite Storm and Wastewater Treatment Case Study, Phipps and Frick Park
11:30 – 12:30	Forum Discussion Regarding Regulatory Issues and Barriers