Case Study: Heifer International

In 2005 an architect called on RECLAIM to provide 60 gallons a minute of filtered and sterilized recycled water to flush toilets in a building. We delivered a FilterJet-series reclaim system with onboard ozone disinfection capable of 100 gallons per minute to Heifer International Headquarters in Little Rock, Arkansas. Our system is used to filter, disinfect and pressurize water for their gray-water system.

The excess capacity is also used for the make-up water in the cooling towers, reducing blowdown and decreasing the amount of city water needed to cool the building, saving water and electricity. The ozone disinfects the cooling tower water, preventing legionella and other pathogens from infecting the system. Ozone is three molecules of oxygen held together by an extra electron, it is non-toxic and non-carcinogenic and is created naturally by lightning.


The ins and outs:
How the RECLAIM system works at Heifer International.

1. Rainwater is collected from the tower collector (pictured at right). The tower collector works like a large funnel that collects and stores water like a water tower without a lid. A spiral staircase enclosed in a glass tower wraps around the tower's large cylindrical vertical column.

2. Gravity pulls the water down into a reclaim tank in the basement where it is ozonated.

3. The ozone quickly reacts with any contaminates in the water and the freed electron then bonds to any particulate matter in the water, creating a type of static cling which bringssmaller particles together into larger and more filterable clumps.

4. The ozonated water is then pulled in to the filtration system where a 7.5 HP pump pushes it through a 25 micron stainless steel filter element, removing all particles larger than 25 microns, approximately the size of a white blood cell.
> See the RECLAIM Sizing Chart

5. The 7.5 HP pump provides 60 psi of water for the building at 100 gallons per minute.

If the tower collects too much water, it overflows into the moat surrounding the building and out to the marshland where the building is situated. If there is not enough rain, then a city water valve opens allowing the temporary use of city water in the building.

Photo credits: Tim Hursley. Used by permission of Heifer International.