Newark DE Greywater Proposal

Transcription

1 Newark DE Greywater Proposal Maddi Valinski N e w a r k, D e l a w a r e P r o p o s e d D e c e m b e r Using ArcGIS, the city of Newark, DE would like to prioritize households eligible for the installation of a laundry-to-landscape greywater system. For an estimated budget of just under $400,000, it is proposed that households could be selected based upon their lawn size, vegetation, and proximity to other beneficial sites for the installation of a greywater system, and 100 households could have laundry-to-landscape greywater systems installed. This entire process of public awareness, household selection, and greywater system installation will take approximately three years.

2 Valinski 1 Proposal Background Water resources are difficult to distribute in Newark, Delaware due to its complex relationship with other municipalities within the Delaware River Basin Watershed. Droughts hit Newark, Delaware very hard in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and many long-term Newark residents are fearful of when the next big drought will hit. Additionally, household water prices are rapidly increasing due to a need for updated infrastructure, and the price increase in the region is higher than most other regions in the United States. As such, Newark, Delaware is prepared and ready to have a laundry-to-landscape greywater system installed, and the political system is ready for a widespread implementation of a greywater system. According to Section in Regulations detailing Alternative Wastewater Treatment and Disposal, greywater is permitted in Newark, Delaware if the greywater is used for residential irrigation (Schepens). However, before this occurs, residential areas to target for the installation of greywater systems must be identified. These areas will be targeted based upon their lawn size, amount of plants growing, and their distance to other yards that are being targeted for the previous criteria. Households would be targeted based upon their interest to be considered for a greywater system installation. Households would apply to be considered for this program, and then ranked based upon GIS analysis. GIS analysis will be useful for this identification, as the amount of plant growth can be tracked by using a NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) calculation and scoring the results based on the quartile the lawn is classified in. Additionally, residential plots will be ranked based upon their size. Using a raster calculator, these calculations

3 Valinski 2 would be summed and each parcel would then be manually ranked based upon the sum of their NDVI score and size as well as their distance from other highly ranked parcels. By targeting parcels based upon these three criteria, it would allow for the residential parcels with the most likelihood of using a large portion of their water bill for landscaping, but it would also make installation of greywater systems easier, due to the closeness of the parcels. Once selected, 100 households will have a laundry-to-landscape greywater system installed. In order to do so, two professionals must be trained for the installation of laundry-tolandscape greywater systems. As such, two plumbing professionals will to travel to Los Angeles, California for a 5-day training through Greywater Action, which will allow for a smoother transition into greywater systems in Delaware. However, before households will be willing to switch to a greywater system, public awareness campaigns must be run to increase public willingness to install laundry-to-landscape systems in their homes. These public awareness promotions will educate residents on the benefits of a laundry-to-landscape system, not only for their budgets, but also for water conservation concerns. Literature Review Water resources are difficult to disperse in Newark, Delaware due the fact that political jurisdictions and water supply franchise areas do not coincide with topographical and aquifer drainage divides (Kauffman 1). In addition to sharing water resources with other major cities in the state of Delaware, many of Newark s water sources come from sources that are also shared by several other states, such as Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania (Kauffman 1). White Clay Creek is one of the main sources of water for Newark, DE, and is a tributary of the Christina River, which is a part of the Delaware River system. The Delaware River Basin

4 Valinski 3 also supplies water for New York City, large areas of New Jersey, and parts of Pennsylvania ( Delaware ). Thus, these regions must cooperate to ensure that each area gets enough water to sustain their populations, especially during times of drought. The Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) is the largest organization to collaborate the cooperation of the varying governments that are a part of the Delaware River watershed. The DRBC is comprised of New Jersey, New York, Delaware, Pennsylvania and the federal government. The governor of each state acts as the decision makers in this organization, and the commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers North Atlantic Division acts as the federal representative. The chair and vice chair of the DRBC are the governors of New Jersey and New York, respectively, which are two of the states that are upstream ( Delaware ). As such, the DRBC may not be as concerned with the availability of water downstream, as the east coast of the United States distributes water using Riparian Rights. While the state of Delaware has more recognition in the organization as Delaware Governor Jack Markell is the Second Vice Chair, the governor of Pennsylvania is only a member, despite the fact that the majority of the Delaware River, 50.3%, runs through Pennsylvania ( Delaware ). The DRBC has created legislation on various topics regarding the Delaware River Basin, including regulations on water quality regulations, water supply charges, and flood plains. Programs have also been created to help with challenges such as water quality, water supply and conservation, permitting and project review, flood loss reduction, flow and drought management, natural gas drilling, and basin-wide planning. The DRBC was created to plan, develop, conserve, regulate, allocate, and manage water resources the water resources in the basin, but there are challenges with distributing the amount of water dispersed to each of the parties

5 Valinski 4 involved. This is because the decree creating the DRBC stipulates that decisions cannot be made if they will adversely affect one party without a unanimous decision ( Delaware ). While a number of cooperative efforts have been made to increase easy dispersion of water to all municipalities in this region, water resources are still limited and must be treated with care. The use of greywater systems will help reduce our water consumption, especially due to these limitations. While Newark, Delaware has not encountered an exceptional drought in the past couple years, droughts occurred with high frequency in the early 1980s to the mid-1990s. Newark, Delaware has faced 7 exceptional droughts in the past 25 years (Hildebrandt). Historic droughts occurred in 1995, 1999, and 2002, which crippled the region, and another drought crippling the water resources available in the region is possible. In fact, during the mid-1990s to early 2000s, each drought was worse than the last, and the drought of 2002 was the worst drought on record, worse than even the 1963 drought (Hildebrandt). Droughts in the state of Delaware existed consistently throughout 2002, with peak drought conditions occurring in late August, as seen in Figure 3 ( Tabular ). According to the United States Drought Monitor, Delaware has faced a drought of some severity for approximately 30% of the time between 1/4/2000 and 10/15/2013, as shown in Figure 2. These drought conditions range in severity from D0, where conditions are abnormally dry, to D4, where conditions are exceptionally dry. Other categories include D1, with moderately dry conditions, D2, with severely dry conditions, and D3 with extremely dry conditions ( Tabular ). Seasonal analysis shows that late summer is likely to experience the most severe and most widespread drought conditions, as seen in Figure 3 and Figure 4. There were some precautions were taken to increase reserve water supplies by 1 billion gallons in northern Delaware between 2002 and 2003, in response to the high drought levels of

6 Valinski 5 the late 1990s and early 2000s (Kauffman). These precautions included a reservoir that was dedicated in May 2006, as well as developing a localized drought plan to mitigate concerns of facing a drought in the future (Hildebrandt). However, all of these improvements are contributing to the increasingly high water prices in New Castle County. Water prices are also high in Newark, Delaware, especially compared with the national average water prices. Within the city limits, the first 9,522 gallons are charged at a rate of $5.66 per 1,000 gallons, while all water usage over 9,522 gallons is charged a rate of $7.21 per 1,000 gallons. These figures are based off of quarterly readings ( Article II ). Comparatively, households pay just over $2 on average for 1,000 gallons of water nationwide in the United States according to a study by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ( Drinking ). Not only does Newark, Delaware have water prices much higher than the national average, these prices are also growing at an astounding rate. According to a study by the USA Today, water rates have more than doubled in one in four municipalities studied over the past twelve years. Additionally, less than twenty of the municipalities studied had an increase in water prices less than 37%. In Wilmington, Delaware, water prices increased 200% between 2000 and 2012, which is the second highest percentage increase in water prices of all of the municipalities in this study. Other local large cities, such as Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia, PA, also recorded high percentage increases, at 81% and 164%, respectively. Water prices are predicted to continue to increase at a rate of 5-15% every few years (McCoy). Additionally, the US drinking water system is repaired and expanded between 2011 and 2035, which is estimated to cost at least $1 trillion, and most of these repairs and expansion costs will be funded by jacking up household water bills (Ellis). A typical family is estimated to

7 Valinski 6 consume 7,500 gallons per month (McCoy), and it is predicted that water rates can triple with the new infrastructure (Ellis). This means that in a quarter, a family might expect to pay approximately $ per quarter, rather than $ as a household would pay at the 2013 rates per quarter for consumption of 7,500 gallons per month. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, approximately 30% of household water use is for outdoor use. Outdoor water usage is very seasonal, and outdoor water usage is highest in the hottest months of the year. The hottest months of the year are also when water availability is the lowest due to drought conditions, and outdoor water usage is directly proportionate to how hot the weather is ( Water-Smart ). The top three uses of water in the household are for landscaping, sewage, and laundry; and a simple laundry-to-landscape system would be able to reduce the water waster of two of the highest use values. While a laundry-tolandscape system might not be the only step to make garden water neutral, approximately 15% of household water use is for laundry, as seen in Figure 1. This means that up to 50% of the water use for landscapes could be reduced, if residents switched to a laundry-to-landscape system. A laundry-to-landscape system is the best choice for an easy switch to greywater, as this type of system is least likely to encounter mechanical problems. Other systems, such as recycling all water in the house except for toilet water, are much more likely to encounter mechanical difficulties. Additionally, the maintenance for a laundry-to-landscape system is relatively low, which means that it would be very easy to sustain the use of a laundry-to-landscape system for the long-haul and it would have minimal economic impacts (Chaillou).

8 Valinski 7 Hypothesis I think that by ranking the suitable parcels by value, it could allow for an innovative solution to water scarcity to be maximized within Newark, Delaware, while the budget for implementing the new technology is implemented. If provided with a small budget to install laundry-to-landscape greywater systems, it would be best to target households that would result in the highest reduction of water use, and most of this usage could be determined using spatial analysis, as homeowners would be likely to falsely report their outdoor water usage. Data The research would use the spatial analyst properties of ArcGIS, and base maps would be provided by the United States Geologic Survey (USGS). The base map would come from the most recent year of information from the Delaware Data page. The map would be focused in on Newark, Delaware, and then overlain with boundaries on specific properties. These boundary lines would be collected by hand using GPS devices to mark the boundaries of the households that wish to be considered for a greywater installation. Since this proposal is only for the town of Newark, obtaining the boundaries on specific properties should not take too long, and the data collected from the boundaries will be imported into ArcGIS as various layers and converted into polygon shape files. Methods A public awareness campaign will be created to raise awareness of the needs for a laundry-to-landscape greywater system, and the benefits it can provide to homeowners. Multiple mailings will be sent out requesting homeowners to apply to have a greywater system installed.

9 Valinski 8 Once all of the applications are submitted, GIS experts will review each property for its suitability for this project, based upon the permeable land area, vegetation cover, and proximity to other suitable parcels. GIS experts will be expected to collect the field data of property borders using a GPS system, and then convert these GPS points into a raster layer in ArcGIS. These property layers would be overlain on the terrain maps of Newark Delaware, and the NDVI of each property would be calculated. The area of the property would also be calculated, and the area of impermeable surfaces on the property would be subtracted from the total property area. A raster calculator would then be used to add together the NDVI and total property area together, and then each land parcel would be ranked based on their raster calculated score and their proximity to other high ranking land parcels. Once all of the land parcels are ranked, the top 100 parcels would be selected to have laundry-to-landscape systems installed. The greywater systems would be installed by plumbers trained in greywater system installation through Greywater Action, a non-profit organization based in California that promotes the switch of households to greywater systems. These plumbers will have gone through Greywater Action s 5-day installer s course. The plumbers will install 100 greywater systems into the highest ranked land parcels, which will help significantly reduce Newark, Delaware s water usage for landscaping. Anticipated Results It is anticipated that the households that will be ranked highest will also be the households with the highest outdoor water usage, and will all be within the same few neighborhoods and developments. It is anticipated that water usage will drop by at least 15% in

10 Valinski 9 the households that switch to a greywater system, as 15% of household water use goes towards laundry and 30% of household water use goes towards landscaping, as shown in Figure 1. Additionally, since homeowners currently pay an average of $ per year on water in Newark, DE ( Article II ), they can expect to save approximately $88.50 each year with 15% less water consumption if rates remain the same. With this large of a decrease in water consumption, I anticipate that other households would also want to switch to a greywater system or try to find another innovative way to reduce water consumption. If this project is successful, other towns and cities of similar size to Newark, DE might be inspired to create a similar project, as they will have a successful example ahead of them. Policy Applications Laundry-to-landscape systems are a great way to reduce some of the pressures for freshwater, but also allow for the same quality of life that existed before the laundry-tolandscape system was installed. If Newark, Delaware is able to successfully install 100 laundryto-landscape systems using GIS to target the most beneficial areas, it would demonstrate how successful a similar program like this might be in other areas around the United States. This could be particularly revolutionary in the northeastern portion of the United States, as water scarcity is something that is rarely considered, except in times of major drought. Areas with water scarcity, however, are already looking into greywater systems and other innovative ways to conserve, but Newark could become a leader in how to effectively install greywater systems for the least cost, yet conserve the most amount of money.

11 Valinski 10 Budget The total budget of this project would be $392,537.57, with the costs split relatively evenly between the GIS analysis and greywater system installation, as shown in Figure 5. The three main categories of the budget are Data Analysis, Greywater System, and Public Awareness. Data Analysis has a proposed budget of $133, This budget includes two full time GIS experts, who will be hired to work 40 hours a week for one year at a rate of $25.00 an hour. The Data Analysis phase of this project also includes costs from purchasing the ArcGIS software, data collection fees, and GPS equipment. Greywater system installation has a proposed budget of $143,300, which includes the cost of sending two professional plumbers to Los Angeles, California to receive certification to install greywater systems. Each installer would be paid $2,000 for their time during the training, and travel would be paid for. Each laundry-to-landscape system costs approximately $1,350 to install, which accounts for both labor costs and materials. Category Data Analysis Item & Personnel GIS Software GIS Experts (2) Proposed Budget Cost Description $15,000 Data Analysis Software $25/hour x 40 hours/week x 56 weeks=$56,000 each $112,000 Data Collection Travel Fees $5,000 Data Collection Equipment $ explorist Pro 10 GPS x 2 Two GIS experts will conduct all research, including data collection in the field and inputting and analyzing all results and data to best rank the properties for the greywater system. Travel costs associated with collecting GPS data of property borders GPS to collect data of property borders; this model is the most cost effective as it allows for all of the collection needs to be met, as well as allowing for photographs to be taken to allow for easier integration of data,

12 Valinski 11 Greywater System Public Awareness as it can be marked with an image of $ the street number. $1,350/household x 100 Costs associated with installing households laundry-to-landscape greywater systems for 100 households in Newark, DE. These costs include Greywater $135,000 materials and labor costs. Greywater System Action estimates that each laundry-tolandscape Installation system professionally installed will cost between $700 and $2,000, so the estimated cost of the installation is the average cost, which is $1,350 ( Cost ) Travel Fees: $3,000 Costs associated with training two -$500 round-trip flight professional plumbers in greywater from Philadelphia to Los system installation through Angeles/installer Greywater Action, the leader in -$1,000 hotel room for 5- successful switches to laundry to nights in Los Angeles landscape greywater systems. Each Greywater -$1,000 other travel fees year, Greywater action hosts a 5-day System Installer s Course: $1,300 installer s course in Los Angeles, Installers (2) -$650 training California, which is where the two course/installer professionals would be sent to receive Installer s Salary: $4,000 their training. While the installation -$50/hour x 40 hours = costs cover the wages of the installers $2,000 each during the installation times, during the training, the installers would need $8,300 to be paid. $500 mailings Costs associated with developing $500 informational printed material to inform Newark brochures residents of the laundry-to-landscape Printed $500 instructions for the greywater system and the benefits a Information newly installed greywater system could have for their property. systems Printed information will be distributed via mail, and also made $1,500 available on the website. -$50/hour x 40 hours = Costs associated with developing a $2,000 for web designer website to provide further -$32 x 12 months = $384 information regarding laundry-tolandscape Online for 1 year s maintenance of systems in Newark DE, Information website and would allow for a more seamless transition and could provide information for other local municipalities interested in making a $2,384 similar switch. Total Budget $280, x 1.40 Includes an additional 40% of the

13 Valinski 12 $392, budget to account for institutional overhead Timeframe This project is a relatively short term project. It is anticipated to take 20 months, beginning in January 2014 and being completed in August Timeframe Activity Length January 2014 June 2014 Public Awareness Campaign 6 months March 2014 June 2014 Household greywater applications accepted 4 months June 2014 August 2014 GPS Data collection of property borders 3 months August 2014 May 2014 ArcGIS data compiled and properties ranked 9 months according to benefit June 2014 Households notified of the decisions and two 2 weeks plumbers go to Los Angeles to receive training from Greywater Action Mid-June 2014 August 2014 Greywater systems installed in 100 households 2 ½ months

14 Valinski 13 Appendix Figure 1: How Much Water Do We Use Outdoors? This pie chart shows the distribution of water consumption in the average household in the United States according to a July 2013 publication sponsored by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. This pie chart is calculated using data from across the United States and does have some regional variance ( Water-Smart ).

15 Valinski 14 Droughts Between 1/4/ /15/2013 in Delaware Nothing D0 D1 D2 D3 D % 13.36% 8.86 % 5.73% 1.66% 0.19% Figure 2: Droughts Between 1/4/ /15/2013 in Delaware This pie chart shows the distribution of weeks in drought conditions in the state of Delaware between January 2000 and mid-october The categories are split up into no drought, D0 abnormally dry conditions, D1 moderate drought conditions, D2 severe drought conditions, D3 extreme drought conditions or D4 exceptional drought conditions. These conditions were measured weekly, and analyzed using categorical statistics ( Tabular ).

16 Percentage of State in Drought Conditions Valinski Percentage of Delaware Experiencing Drought Conditions, 2002 D0 D1 D2 D3 D Date Figure 3: Percentage of Delaware Experiencing Drought Conditions, 2002 This graph details the percentage of the state of Delaware facing drought conditions during Drought conditions were abnormally high in 2002, reaching exceptional levels of drought in approximately 75% of the state in August. The categories measured are split up into no drought, D0 abnormally dry conditions, D1 moderate drought conditions, D2 severe drought conditions, D3 extreme drought conditions or D4 exceptional drought conditions. These conditions were measured weekly, and analyzed using categorical statistics ( Tabular ).

17 Percentage of State in Drought Conditions Valinski Percentage of Delaware Experiencing Drought Conditions, 2008 D0 D1 D2 D3 D Date Figure 4: Percentage of Delaware Experiencing Drought Conditions, 2008 This graph measures the percentage of the state of Delaware facing various levels of severity of drought throughout the year demonstrates a more typical year of drought in comparison to The categories measured are split up into no drought, D0 abnormally dry conditions, D1 moderate drought conditions, D2 severe drought conditions, D3 extreme drought conditions or D4 exceptional drought conditions. These conditions were measured weekly, and analyzed using categorical statistics ( Tabular ).

18 Valinski 17 Budget Breakdown GIS Software 4% Institutional Overhead 29% GIS Experts 29% Online Information 1% Printed Information 0% Greywater System Installers 2% Greywater System Installation 34% Data Collection Travel Fees 1% Data Collection Equipment 0% Figure 5: Budget Breakdown Percentages This chart depicts the proposed budget and what percentage goes towards which parts of the budget. The least expensive part of this proposal is the public awareness, capturing less than 2% of the total budget, while the greywater system installation consumes the largest portion of the budget. The total cost for the analysis phase is the same cost as the installation of the greywater systems, and consumes approximately 34% of the total budget.

19 Valinski 18 Works Cited "Article II. WATER METERS AND WATER RATES." Newark, Delaware; Code of Ordinances. City of Newark, Delaware. Web. 12 Oct Chaillou, Katell, Claire Gérente, Yves Andrès, and Dominique Wolbert. "Bathroom Greywater Characterization and Potential Treatments for Reuse." Water, Air & Soil Pollution (2011): "Cost of Greywater Systems." Greywater Action. Greywater Action. Web. 16 Sept "Delaware River Basin Commission." Delaware River Basin Commission. Delaware River Basin Commission. Web. 16 Oct "Drinking Water Costs & Federal Funding." Environmental Protection Agency. United State EPA, 28 Aug Web. 15 Oct Ellis, Blake. "Water Bills Expected to Triple in Some Parts of U.S." CNNMoney. Cable News Network, 27 Feb Web. 12 Oct Hildebrandt, Peter. "Independence Delaware's Drought Planning Strategy." Water Efficiency: The Journal for Water Resource Management. Forester Media, Inc., 28 Feb Oct Kauffman, Gerald J. "Historic Drought for Delaware." Water News 3.1 (2002): 1-2. Delaware Water Resources Center, Spring Web. 12 Oct McCoy, Kevin. "Water Costs Gush Higher." USA Today. Gannett, 29 Sept Web. 12 Oct

20 Valinski 19 Schepens, Dave. "Beneficial Use of Reclaimed Water In Delaware Water In Delaware Greywater And/or Wastewater." DNREC. State of Delaware. Web. 12 Sept "Tabular Data Archive - Delaware." United States Drought Monitor. National Drought Mitigation Center. Web. 23 Oct "Water-Smart Landscapes." United States Environmental Protection Agency. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, July Web.