Rainwater Harvesting Is the Solution for Atlanta

By Bob Drew
Ecovie Environmental

Finally, rainwater “harvesting” – the process of capturing rain, storing it and “recycling” it for any number of purposes both at home and in the workplace – is coming into its own in Atlanta.

And not a moment too soon.  It’s no secret, of course, that Atlanta has challenges with access to water from Lake Lanier and that periods of droughts and floods are commonplace.  This has led to extraordinary debate about its cause – and, just as important, heated discussion about what kinds of remedies can be effected. The goal: Ensuring future generations have ample access to water to support Atlanta’s continuing economic and population growth.

Unfortunately, civic leaders have found few quick fixes beyond encouraging water conservation, banning or limiting activities such as watering lawns, and encouraging the installation of more energy-efficient appliances.

Long-term solutions – the building of one or more reservoirs, for instance – appear elusive, dogged by questions of cost and who will pay for them.  Meanwhile, fighting continues over just how three states – Georgia, Alabama and Florida – will share the water of Lake Lanier, Atlanta’s premiere source of H2O – and the city continues raising its water rates (they will increase 12.5% this year and another 12.5% next year and who knows after that).  (A little-known fact: According to Fitch Ratings in New York, Atlantans pay more for water than residents of any other major city in the U.S.)

A cost-effective, immediate, “take-charge” solution

Largely overlooked as a solution that can be put in place today – and bring immediate results: Rainwater harvesting by both consumers and businesses. Indeed, to date the concept has received little attention from politicians, civic and not-for-profit groups and the media anywhere in the Southeast, in part because the South has never been “water starved” historically in the way the West has been. As a result, water supply here has been taken for granted, an issue people have thought best dealt with by government agencies rather than by individual consumers and businesses who have had little if any “skin” in the game.

Little known in the Atlanta region – and anywhere in the Southeast: As we have suffered through the drought and watch Lake Lanier drain, a great number of Western states and cities have enacted legislative, tax, plumbing code and related changes and incentives that are making these areas water sufficient in large part through rainwater harvesting.

Here’s the great part: These rainwater harvesting initiatives in the West cost taxpayers little compared to the giant sums that have to be invested in major infrastructure projects such as the construction of reservoirs. And, most important, in many cases consumers and businesses are incented through tax breaks to install water harvesting systems on their property (just as they are in the better-known arena of solar power and the installation of solar panels) – a solution that enables them to take better control over their short- and long-term budgets while also knowing that they’re playing a part personally in a key “green” and eco “sustainability” issue.

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Sponsor: EcoVie Environmental is providing Atlanta homeowners with a number of rainwater collection solutions to help their water conservation needs. Not only do homeowners save money on their water utility bills they have unlimited access to water for all of their gardening and landscaping needs. For more information please visit their website- www.ecovieenvironmental.com