News — Water Efficiency Magazine

As one of the nation’s fastest growing large cities, Fort Worth faces the challenge of providing infrastructure and resources for its population while maintaining and improving quality of life for current and future residents. The City of Fort Worth strives to provide a sustainable city by using a multi-pronged approach to protect its water resources. A Sustainability Task Force works to ensure city infrastructure and water resources keep pace with growth. Recent drought conditions and low lake levels have brought water shortages to the forefront. To promote rain water harvesting, the Water Conservation, Stormwater Management and Environmental Management divisions of...

By Steve GoldbergTheoretically, rainwater harvesting and reuse has a number of tangible benefits:It’s a free source of water that can be obtained with something as simple and inexpensive as a rain barrel collecting rooftop runoff.It can reduce the load on stormwater systems, which can in turn result in fewer pollutants entering local bodies of water.It can decrease the use of potable municipal water for nonpotable needs.A lot of energy is required to obtain, clean, and transport water; if demand decreases as a result of rainwater harvesting, less energy will be required to process a lower demand for potable water.Both homeowners...