Stormwater Capture, Reuse, and Treatment for Multipurpose Benefits

Stormwater can be a blessing or a curse, depending on how it is handled. The conservation and reuse of stormwater can serve to enhance an environment that is lacking in water, even if only during certain times of year. Thus, stormwater that may cause flooding or overburden a collection system can be converted to an asset. The treatment of stormwater using a natural system rather than processing through a wastewater treatment plant can save valuable resources by increasing the capacity and prolonging the useful life of a treatment plant. The reuse of the stormwater before it ever reaches the treatment plant will similarly save resources and can provide additional benefits to water-short end-users. Stormwater can be accessed as a new source of water for municipalities and private enterprises. Innovative approaches to divert and treat or capture and distribute include constructed-wetland stormwater treatment systems, small lot reuse, source reuse, stormwater capture, stormwater storage, and stormwater distribution. In most jurisdictions a water right is not required to use stormwater that is captured before it enters a natural stream or lake. Potential stormwater reclamation opportunities identified as part of an appraisal investigation conducted for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in the State of Hawaii are used to illustrate innovative approaches to converting stormwater to an asset. Example project concepts include stormwater interception and storage for addition to an existing irrigation distribution system on the Island of Hawaii, or installation of a deep infiltration trench to capture stormwater from urban development and introduce it into a brackish aquifer used for irrigation on Oahu. Similarly, a stormwater collection, treatment, and beneficial reuse system approach is illustrated by a Vancouver, Washington, project under development to treat industrial stormwater runoff in constructed wetlands for discharge to the Burnt Bridge Creek watershed. This provides an attractive alternative for industries and municipalities to reduce sewer collection and its associated costs and lost capacity. It also provides flow augmentation to the creek and restores watershed features.