Update on Construction

The project has been in the ordering stages for the past two months and construction of the harvesting system will continue next week. During the university break, the majority of the PVC piping needed for the system was purchased and delivered to the site.

With the help of the volunteers who have been so gracious with their time, the piping will be installed over a weekend in the next few weeks. Once the piping is installed the next steps are to install the 120 gallon pressure bladder and the purification system.

The guttering system which is one of the bigger challenges to this project has professional volunteers ready to install in the next couple of months.

It is great to see that work was continually accomplished on this project even when most students and faculty were away from school.

Cisterns in Place

The two 3000 gallon cisterns ordered from National Tank Outlet in Memphis, Tennessee, were placed on the concrete pad earlier this week. The tanks, at a height of 9 feet tall and a diameter of around 8 feet were no easy task to move and get onto the pad. Students from the MSU's building construction sciences helped place the cisterns in the right spots for future plumbing. Each tank weighed in at about 400 pounds. Made out of polyethylene, the tanks can withstand a great deal of interior force from the weight of the water, as well as exterior forces such as the concrete pad.

The final design and construction of cisterns were similar to that of the original design. The first cistern (one closest to the house) still consisted of a 4 inch valve with two 2 inch valves on the bottom 180 degrees from one another and the second cistern had the 1 1/2 inch valve with the two 2 inch valves same as the first cistern. The only difference was the placement of the 4 inch valve. To get maximum tank volume, the inlet was installed on the dome of the tank.

Overall success getting the tanks

in place, thanks very much to

the building construction class that helped. Now that the tanks are placed, plumbing can begin for the actual implementation of the rainwater harvesting system. Piping will be ordered by the end of the week and the installation is planned to take place the first week in December if not earlier. Thanks again to all that have helped with this project.

Concrete Pad

On the weekend of October 17th, volunteers came out and helped place a 9 foot by 18 foot concrete pad for the two 3000 gallon cisterns that have been being formed and modified the past two weeks. Using over 140 bags of concrete, reinforcement bar, and a rented concrete mixer, the 5 1/2 inch pad was laid.

I am particularly proud of all of the help that was received in the process prior and during

the construction of the pad. So many people helped get the concrete from the local home improvement store, as well as haul the mixer around Starkville. It is great to see so many willing faces for this project.

The weekend went smoothly with all equipment available and no shortage of concrete mix. The pad construction started over a month ago with surveying and leveling of the ground. Over the next month, Dr. David Lewis and I placed cribbing around the determined area to prepare for the pad. Over the course of the month, size and depth changes were made, changing only slightly from 10 by 20 foot, and 6 inches deep to 9 by 18 foot pad and 5 1/2 inches deep.

The pad's cribbing was ready for concrete mix on Sunday the

18th of October. On Sunday every bag of concrete was used including a few additional bags purchased that day. The mixer allowed us to mix five 80 pound bags with 5 gallons of water. The concrete mix was a blend of portland cement, gravel and sand. With breaks, the job took approximately 9 hours to complete. The pictures shown are concrete being poured into the cribbing from the mixer and smoothing of the pad.

Thanks again to all of the volunteers, in particular Adrian Lewis and friends, Stephen Gardebled, Andrea Hill, and all others who were at the site.

First Purchases

Today, the biggest part of the rainwater harvesting system was purchased. Two 3,000 gallon cisterns were ordered from National Tank Outlet in Memphis, Tennessee. With the help of their staff, the proper inlets and outlets for the design will be added to each prefabricated cistern. Having this big purchase out of the way has allowed the system to be pushed forward at a great speed that will hopefully allow the completion date to be somewhere in December of this year.

Along with purchasing the cisterns, items required to create and lay the concrete slab needed for the two cisterns, have been purchased and work on the slab is to be conducted on this Saturday and Sunday, October 17th and 18th.

With the installation of the pad and the arrival of the cisterns, piping will soon follow along with the other components of the system, including, the pump, the purification system, and the pressure bladder.

Ground Breaking for the System

On Saturday September 12, we broke ground on the rainwater harvesting system for the MSU sustainable house. The first stage of the system construction is to create a stable and thick concrete slab for the cisterns to rest on. The slab is dimensioned at 10 feet by 20 feet with a depth of six inches. The slab will be made from porter cement along with gravel and sand.

To prepare for the slab, over a foot and a half of dirt was excavated to level the ground and placed gravel to create the 10 by 20 foot area where the concrete pad will be laid.

To accomplish this task, the ground was surveyed using a transit and a leveling rod to determine the amount of ground that had to be dug up to create a level surface. After the surveying was completed, many volunteers helped dig out the earth and place gravel.

Tools and gravel were supplied by the research house and labor was free thanks to the volunteers that came out on a Saturday morning to help. This allowed us to accomplish the prep work for a major job for zero cost. Unfortunately, rain has halted the project for a few of weeks, so the pad has not been laid.

As the site continues to dry, purchases are beginning to get made and the system is on its way. The first purchase will be the cisterns and guttering system which will be the largest of the design and will take around a month for delivery, giving ample time to lay and set the concrete needed for the cisterns. Once the site is dry, framing will be laid with reinforcing bars, and the concrete will be pored to create the slab.

Thanks again to everyone who volunteered

Beginnings

I want to personally welcome you to the Mississippi State University Blog on the construction of MSU's Sustainable House rainwater harvesting system. For a year I have personally been in charge of designing and pricing the system for possible construction. I am happy to say that construction on the preliminary structure for the system will begin this Saturday, September 12, 2009.

This weekend we will be laying the concrete slab where two 3000 gallon cisterns will be placed. Once this is complete the project will be moving forward by purchasing individual components for the system.

Pictures will follow of the weekend's project and how it went. If you would like to see the design of the rainwater harvesting system, please visit the design portion of the system at

www.ra.msstate.edu/~sai8

Thanks and check back for updates every week.