Rainwater collection system built for New Haven Farms

Atelier Ten Foundation

New Haven Farms is a non-profit corporation that promotes health and community development through urban agriculture. The group grows affordable fresh fruits and vegetables for those most affected by – or at risk for – diet-related chronic disease, thus contributing to the health and vitality of the community surrounding the gardens. The group has gardens established in developing communities in New Haven. These gardens did not have access to watering, which hindered the selection of greens and limited the growing season. Kit Elsworth, a technical staff member of the New Haven office, coordinated with New Haven Farms to design and build a rainwater collection system for three of the urban farms. The goal of the project was to provide the farm group with a sustainable method toward irrigation. The rainwater collection system would also be easy to maintain and deconstructable for repairs and upgrades.

A 560 gallon manifold style rainwater collection system was built for each lot and collects rainwater from the roof surface of the adjacent houses. The rain barrels are made from #2 HDPE plastic and the conveyance piping is a mixture of rigid and flexible PVC piping. Flexible PVC piping was used to allow for movement of the barrels due to wind or human contact.

For more information on the New Haven Farms group, please click here.