Rainwater Collection for Refilling Units and Skill Maintenance Training: Alma South Firehall

The town of Alma will conduct a pilot project to test the use of rainwater to replace drinking water in firefighter training and for refilling the tanker used to fight fires. The project is part of the town’s expansion of its south firehall, so part of the system’s cost will be covered by work that is already planned. Much of the firehall’s water consumption is related to practical training and filling the tanker, and to a lesser extent washing and maintaining equipment. By using rainwater for these operations, the pilot project objective is to reduce drinking water consumption by 65% compared to the baseline, from 314 m3/year to 107 m3/year. The pilot project will also enable Alma to conduct skill maintenance training during the winter. It can currently only be done during the summer, which runs counter to the Fire Department’s skill maintenance philosophy. During the pilot project, the roof drains on the firehall garage will be connected to an underground rainwater tank with a capacity of about 25,000 litres. Alma will install a system that will operate the pumper with rainwater in a closed circuit for training purposes, equipment maintenance and refilling the truck’s tanks. To measure the project’s performance, a water meter will be added to measure how much water in the storage tank is used. Readouts from the water meter on the building’s water intake will be compared with the building’s previous consumption. These values will be recorded by the town and an outside engineering firm will analyze the data and recommend corrections, as applicable. In addition to the project’s environmental benefits, the town expects to reduce the city’s water treatment cost, estimated at $467 per year. The possibility of training firefighters on-site will also reduce costs. Alma will circulate project information and share its results with other interested municipalities so they can benefit from the lessons learned and improve their project design. (Project description from original funding application)