Artful Urban Rainwater Harvesting

ARTFUL URBAN RAINWATER HARVESTING by CHRISTOPHER WILLIAM SPARNICHT (Under the Direction of Bruce K. Ferguson) ABSTRACT Until recently, stormwater management has been so integrated into the urban environment that the importance of proper stormwater management has not translated to the minds of the very people who take advantage of this amenity. The purpose of this thesis is to show that multiple small rainwater harvesting installations can dramatically reduce non-point-source runoff managed by city stormwater systems, and that this is best achieved in urban situations by articulating the process for inhabitants to see. By articulating stormwater management processes in an artful way, stakeholders can better understand and enjoy this natural resource. In this thesis, existing concepts for stormwater management are reviewed; artful concepts applicable to rainwater harvesting are considered; and two contemporary sculptors whose medium is water are reviewed. In addition, a densely built-up Five Points area of Athens, Georgia is assessed. A permeability model for Five Points finds only thirteen percent of our site is permeable today; the rest is either pavement or roof top. After applying rainwater harvesting techniques, rainfall data manipulation and artful articulation of water as a medium, a second permeability model is created to compare with the existing model. The proposed model shows improvement of permeability and thus better stormwater management, all while educating urban dwellers about artful urban rainwater harvesting in a potentially enticing and delightful manner. INDEX WORDS: rainwater harvesting, urban amenity, stormwater runoff, stormwater management, artful rainwater design, artful stormwater management ARTFUL URBAN RAINWATER HARVESTING by CHRISTOPHER WILLIAM SPARNICHT A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree MASTER OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE ATHENS, GEORGIA 2012 © 2012 Christopher William Sparnicht All Rights Reserved ARTFUL URBAN RAINWATER HARVESTING by CHRISTOPHER WILLIAM SPARNICHT Major Professor: Bruce K. Ferguson Committee: Alfred Vick Umit Yilmaz Linda Henneman Electronic Version Approved: Maureen Grasso Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia December 2012 DEDICATION To Christine L. Hoffman You help realize goodness in others, wherever you go. Even after 20 years of marriage, I still think of you as my girl friend. Here's to 20 more. and To M. A. (Jacqueline) and Roderick E. Sparnicht For helping realize a valuable education. Other parents should look to your example as the ideal. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Bruce Ferguson, my major thesis professor for his infinite patience and capacity for succinct explanation. I would like to thank my thesis committee members Alfie Vick, Umit Yilmaz and Linda Henneman for constructive criticism and frank review. I would like to thank Melissa Tufts for her the generosity of her time, precision and excellence in clarification and organization suggestions. I would like to thank Christine Hoffman for exhaustive final thesis edits. I would like to thank Stuart Echols and Eliza Pennypacker for defining a clear path from mere stormwater management to artful rainwater design. I would like to thank the entire faculty and staff of the College of Environment & Design for their dedication towards a sustainable, multidisciplinary approach to historic preservation, landscape architecture and environmental planning and design. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................................................... v LIST OF TABLES ..................................................................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................................... x CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Stormwater Management .............................................................................................. 1 1.2 What is Rainwater Harvesting? .................................................................................... 2 1.3 Art as Urban Amenity ................................................................................................... 3 1.4 Rainwater Harvesting as Artful Urban Amenity ........................................................... 5 1.5 Thesis Approach ........................................................................................................... 6 2 ARCHITECTURAL AND ARTFUL CONSIDERATIONS .................................................... 7 2.1 Rainwater harvesting Concepts .................................................................................... 7 2.2 Artful Concepts ........................................................................................................... 11 2.3 Water Forms used by Sculptors of the Medium ......................................................... 15 2.4 Adaptation of Artful Water Forms to Rainwater harvesting ...................................... 21 3 CASE STUDIES ..................................................................................................................... 22 3.1 Cedar River Watershed Education Center .................................................................. 22 3.2 Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center ....................................................................... 27 3.3 Tenth @ Hoyt ............................................................................................................. 31 3.4 Temporary Installations of Artful Urban Rainwater Harvesting ................................ 33 3.5 Toward Application at Five Points ............................................................................. 35 4 FIVE POINTS SITE REVIEW ............................................................................................... 36 vi 4.1 Five Points Site Parameters ........................................................................................ 37 4.2 Physical Considerations for the Site ........................................................................... 39 4.3 Additional Environmental and Social Evaluation ....................................................... 43 4.4 Finding Pervious Surface ............................................................................................ 43 4.5 Soil Considerations ..................................................................................................... 44 4.6 Weather Patterns and Precipitation. ............................................................................ 44 4.7 Available Water Days ................................................................................................. 47 4.8 Regulated Stormwater Management Considerations .................................................. 57 4.9 Applying Site Knowledge ........................................................................................... 59 5 PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF ARTFUL URBAN RAINWATER HARVESTING IN FIVE POINTS ......................................................................................................................... 60 5.1 Pervious Parking ......................................................................................................... 61 5.2 Pervious Sidewalks and Pedestrian Areas .................................................................. 63 5.3 Cistern Placement Suggestions ................................................................................... 65 5.4 Rain Gardens and Green Roofs ................................................................................... 69 5.5 Compare and Contrast Existing Pervious with Proposed Pervious Implementation .. 73 5.6 Artful Water Features fed by Proposed Cisterns ........................................................ 73 5.7 Comments and Observations ...................................................................................... 91 6 CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................................... 94 6.1 Success in Artful Urban Rainwater Harvesting .......................................................... 94 6.2 Lessons Learned from the Five Points Design............................................................ 94 6.3 Additional Considerations .......................................................................................... 96 REFERENCES .......................................................................................................................................... 99 APPENDICES A Columns for spreadsheets 'Rainfall Data.xlsx' ...................................................................... 103 vii LIST OF TABLES Page Table 4.5.a - Total impervious and pervious area (in square feet) (companion table to Figure 4.5) ..................................................................................................... 42 Table 4.5.b - Total impervious and pervious area (condensed) (companion table to Figure 4.5) ..................................................................................................... 43 Table 4.6 - NRCS Web Soil Survey for Five Points (companion table to Figure 4.6) ....................................................................................................

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