RALEIGH -- City, state and federal officials are touting a federal stimulus project as a smart new way to save water in Raleigh by reviving an ancient bit of technology.
With primary funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the state's Clean Water Management Trust Fund, large cisterns that collect rain water were installed at nine Raleigh fire stations, one Wake County station and a county EMS facility.
The large containers collect water that runs off the rooftops of the stations. Firefighters will use it for washing trucks, irrigation and other duties that don't require clean drinking water.
The project includes three parts - the cisterns, a hose used to pump the water for use on trucks and elsewhere, and a device to collect the water after it is used and to refilter it.
"One of the main reasons we're excited is there are so many different things benefiting from it," said Amy Hathaway, a project engineer for Raleigh's Stormwater Utility Department. "We're conserving our drinking water supply and reducing water pollution."
Officials say that could save more than 100,000 gallons of drinking-quality water annually.
Environmental workers will monitor the cisterns to see exactly how much water is saved. If they're successful, Mayor Charles Meeker said it could become Raleigh's model for water conservation.
"It's old technology with a new application," Meeker said. "I think we'll likely see a good deal of this going forward."
The Recovery Act provided $280,000 for the project. Half of that is to be repaid as a 20-year, no-interest loan. A grant from the Clean Water Management Trust Fund will help repay those costs.
Raleigh taxpayers will pay about $55,000, and Wake County about $12,000, according to the city.
Council member John Odom, who represents District B in northeast Raleigh, says that's too much to spend on uncertain "guess work" in a down economy.
"We could have used that to pay down the Dempsey Benton (water treatment) plant," Odom said. "We need to get down our debt. It will take a long time to get $55,000 back in savings from the cisterns."
