Reilly Elementary School Green Stormwater Retrofit
Overview
- Category: Educational
- Organization Location: Austin, Texas; Travis County
- Activity: Uses passively draining cisterns designed to capture and store rainwater, allowing it to infiltrate into the ground instead of flowing directly into streams.
Background
The Reilly Elementary School project uses 12 cisterns of various sizes and materials, along with five rain gardens, to capture rainwater from 76,627 square feet of rooftops and parking lots. The system reduces runoff from the site by an estimated 621,785 gallons per year, with much of it infiltrating back into the ground. The project further demonstrates to students and the public how a combination of rainwater harvesting and rain gardens can be used as an auxiliary water source to beautify the landscape, reduce common erosion problems, and provide continued learning opportunities. Additionally, the site allows people to see, touch, and evaluate the different practices and approaches that accomplish the goals of green infrastructure and rainwater harvesting.