Case studies for stormwater and rainwater harvest and use/reuse
Contents
Case Studies for Reuse
Name of Project: Mississippi Watershed Management Organization (MWMO)
Type of Reuse System: Cistern
Overview: The cistern, located at the MWMO, utilizes rooftop runoff from the main office area roof to water trees in a trench system.
Location: Mississippi Watershed Management Organization, 2522 Marshall Street NE, Minneapolis 55418
Owners: Mississippi Watershed Management Organization
Contractors: Meisinger Construction-general contractor for facility construction
Operators: Mississippi Watershed Management Organization
Cost:
Concrete Slab - 💲 5,200 Cistern (including piping) – 💲23,700 Rain Leader - 💲 8,400
additional plumbing would be needed if plumbed into the building to be used as grey water
Type and size of system: 4,000 gallon capacity CorGal Water Tank, volume annual dependent on rainfall, filled by roof runoff only
Year of Completion: 2012
Drivers/Stormwater Goals: To water trees, reduce stormwater runoff that reaches the river, infiltrate rainwater. Future use as grey water in facility.
Funding (sources): Public – MWMO funding
Partners: n/a
Photos by MWMO Staff
Monitoring Total Suspended Solids, VSS, bacteria, once every 3 months
Web links:
Lessons Learned:
Design flaws – the plumbing was not correct and all the water drained out, the rain leader diverter operation was not intuitive. Additionally plumbing code hindered process of connecting to facility to be used as grey water. Staff opted to do this at a later time once plumbing codes were updated and other projects set precedence.
For more information contact:
- Doug Snyder, Mississippi Watershed Management Organization Executive Director
E-mail: Dnsyder@mwmo.org Phone: 612-746-4971
Links to Other Case Studies in Minnesota
Outdoor Use
The City of St. Anthony Village water reuse facility collects stormwater runoff from a county road, city hall, local streets and backwash water from the City's water treatment plant in a half million gallon reservoir located underground. Water stored in the reservoir is recycled to irrigate a 20 acre site that includes a municipal park and St. Anthony's City Hall campus. For more information, watch the City of St. Anthony video or go to the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization's web site.
The Oneka Ridge Golf Course project in the City of Hugo, collects and stores stormwater runoff from nearly 1,000 acres of land upstream of Bald Eagle Lake and uses it, instead of pumped groundwater, to irrigate 116 acres with the golf course. For more information, go to the Rice Creek Watershed District web page
Target Field, home of the Minnesota Twins, collects stormwater in a 200,000 gallon cistern. This water is treated and used to irrigate the ball field, reducing city water use by 2 millions gallons per year. Read Greening the Ballpark for more information.
The Eagle Valley and Prestwick Golf Courses in Woodbury are installing two large scale water re-use systems that will capture urban runoff and excess nutrients that would otherwise flow into Colby and Bailey Lakes and use it for irrigation. This project was funded in 2013 with a Clean Water Fund grant. The City of Woodbury has additional reuse and irrigation projects in the city-Windwood Park, Bielenberg Sports Center, Views at City Walk, Bielenberg Gardens and St. Therese. For more information on these projects, contact Sharon Doucette, Environmental Resources Coordinator at sdoucette@ci.woodbury.mn.us
The Minnesota National Guard Facility in Arden Hills has an extensive water-collection system that stores rainwater in a 25,000-gallon underground cistern for reuse in wash bays with a second 20,000-gallon tank to filter rainwater for irrigation.
Maplewood Mall has a 5,700 gallon cistern that catches roof runoff.
Carver County has five sites where stormwater is being to irrigate balllfields and turf. They are Beise Addition, Chevalle, Club West, Copper Hills and Waconia School District. Carver County Watershed Management Organization also has stormwater Reuse Guidelines.
The City of Cottage Grove installed a rainwater harvesting system that captures, stores and cleans City Hall rooftop runoff, which is then used to irrigate planting areas throughout the site. The system reduces the City's annual water usage by 570,000 gallons. This project was partially funded with a grant from the South Washington Watershed District. For more information, contact Jennifer Levit, City of Cottage Grove at jlevitt@cottage-grove.org
The City of Lakeville has a stormwater pond irrigation system located in King Park. The project was completed cooperatively by the City of Lakeville and the Vermillion River Watershed Joint Powers Organization.
Edison High School in Northeast Minneapolis will be irrigating the athletic field using stormwater runoff from the gymnasium roof and new plaza. For more information, go to the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization's web site.
The City of Roseville and the Capitol Region Watershed District are constructing a project to treat stormwater and store it for use as irrigation at the softball field at Upper Villa Park.
Indoor Use
The City of St. Paul's Lowertown Ball Park (CHS Field) is using rainwater for toilet flushing and for irrigation of the ballpark. The cistern was installed in February, 2015 and is now operational. For more information, contact Wes Saunders-Pearce/Water Resources Coordinator at 651- 266-9112 or Wes.Saunders-Pearce@ci.stpaul.mn.us. Information about the project (including an informative video) is available at the Metropolitan Council's web site .
Great River Energy in Maple Grove: Rainwater from the rooftop is collected in a 20,000-gallon cistern, treated with ultraviolet light, and used for toilet and urinal flushing.
The new Target Field Station (The Interchange) features the first-ever, year-round snowmelt and stormwater runoff capture and reuse system in Minnesota. Snowmelt or stormwater is collected in cisterns and then pumped to the Hennepin Energy Recovery Center (HERC), a nearby waste-to-energy facility that burns municipal waste to generate energy. The HERC facility uses the water in a variety of industrial processes, thereby reducing the facility's dependence on the municipal water supply. In total, the stormwater system will direct approximately 1 million gallons of stormwater runoff per year toward the HERC facility for reuse. For more information, go to the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization's web site.
The City of Shoreview's maintenance facility captures rain water runoff from the roof in an underground tank that is used for toilet flushing and vehicle washing. For more information contact Mark Maloney at the City of Shoreview: mmaloney@shoreviewmn.gov
The University of Minnesota's 17th Avenue Residence Hall is collecting rainwater from the roof, holding it in a 35,000 gallon cistern and using the water to flush 200 toilets. For more details about this project, visit the Metropolitan Council's web site.
Schaar's Bluff Gathering Center in Dakota County utilizes rainwater harvesting for toilet flushing.