Rain Water Irrigation

Due to structural limitations with the Smart House and roofs common to many existing homes in the Philadelphia region, the green roof can only retain a finite amount of water. Excess water that drains from the green roof will be collected in cisterns for later use, including irrigation of the ground level property and the green roof during drought periods. Philadelphia's current building codes restrict us from using this rainwater within the house for fixtures. Once the codes are changed, the Smart House will implement rainwater and grey water usage within the house. Modification to the plumbing system within the house will be facilitated by the use of PEX polyethylene tubing manifold plumbing and carefully isolated shower and sink drains.

Four 1000 gallon cisterns will be placed on poured concrete slabs in the basement. Rainwater collected from the roof will initially be stored for later irrigation purposes, and the system will be modified in the future to accept grey water from showers and sinks.

This project employs extensive use of automated controls, particularily a programmable logic controller. An array of water level sensors, pressure sensors, and analog converted humidity sensors are arranged as inputs to the system, and depending on their real time conditions, a series of solenoid valves and pumps are operated to irrigate the property and green roof.