Rainwater Harvesting at ISEC

The Rainwater Reclamation System at the Boston Campus Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Complex (ISEC), collects and recycles rainwater as an integral part of the building infrastructure for flush fixtures within the building. It is the first system of its kind to be used at Northeastern and helps meet our sustainability goals by creating less demand on the regional water supply while reducing stormwater run-off.

The building achieves a significant reduction in water use over baseline standard with the use of low-flow plumbing and fixtures in addition to rainwater harvesting.  The flush fixtures are primarily fed from the harvested rainwater.  Based on the tank size installed, the system is designed to collect 99% of the rainwater that falls on the roof and offset approximately 57% of the flushing demand of the building.

The system is designed as a gravity storm drainage system which is based on a minimum rainfall intensity of 4 inches per hour.  The collected rainwater is channeled to the 8,000-gallon rainwater harvesting tank stored underground via piping from the roof drains.