Rainstore3
Competitive Advantages
Each Rainstore3 unit is only four inches (0.1 meter) high. At one or two units deep, Rainstore3 can be used to store water even in areas with extremely high water tables –places arched chambers or corrugated pipe will not work.
Rainstore3 is modular and can be stacked up to 24 units high (7.9 ft or 2.4 meters). Rainstore3 uses less of a surface footprint to store more water. 10.8 ft2 (one m2) of land can store up to 621 gallons (88.3 ft3 or 2.35 m3). Arched chambers and corrugated pipe cannot come close.
Rainstore3 uses no stone in the excavated volume, saving in labor and trucking costs. Arched chambers and corrugated pipe rely on stone for much of their storage volume. Rainstore3 can use more than 75% of the excavated area available for water storage
Rainstore3, used as a subsurface retention system , allows exfiltration of stormwater to recharge the ground water supply and natural aquifers. Exfiltration occurs through the bottom and all sides of the chamber.
Rainstore3 can be used as a subsurface detention system to regulate the release of water into a sewer or off-site treatment facility and allows some exfiltration of stormwater.
Rainstore3, used as a subsurface water harvesting system, collects rainwater (gray water) and reuses it for many non-potable applications, such as irrigation.
Product Performance Analysis
| Performance Criteria | Rainstore3 2.4 meter height (7.9 f)t |
Arched Chambers 34″ x 75″ x 16″ |
Corrugated Plastic Pipe 60 inch diameter |
Corrugated Metal Pipe 72 inch diameter |
Concrete Pipe 72″ dia. non-perforated |
| % of excavated volume available for water storage | ~75%* | ~40%* | ~60%* | ~53%* | ~38%* |
| % of storage volume occupied by stone | 0% | ~59% | ~60% | ~70% | 0% |
| Maximum water storage volume / surface area | 8.2 ft3 water storage/ft2 surface area | ~1.4 ft3 water storage/ft2 surface area | 3.8 ft3 water storage/ft2 surface area | 4.7 ft3 water storage/ft2 surface area | 3.2 ft3 water storage/ft2 surface areas |
| Chamber depth design flexibility | 4″ min., 98″ max., in 4″ increments | 12″ min., 30.5″ max. | 12″ dia. min., 60″ dia. max., 6″ increments | 12″ dia. min., 240″ dia. max., 6″ increments | 12″ dia. min., 240″ dia. max., 6″ increments |
| Cover depth required | 12″ | 18″ | 12″ – 30″ based on diameter | 12″ – 24″ based on diameter | 6″ |
| On-site handling and manual installation | Easy | Easy | Difficult | Difficult | Difficult |
| Maintenance, inspection, clean-out | Moderate | Moderate | Easy | Easy | Easy |
| % of chamber surface area available for infiltration | 100% | ~75% including side cuts | ~15%, based on perforation area to pipe surface area. | ~15%, based on perforation area to pipe surface area. | 0% |
*Calculations based on an average sized (10 meter x 10 Meter) footprint installed per manufacturer’s specifications