Rainwater Harvesting is the process of capturing and utilizing rainwater which would otherwise be unused runoff. Harvesting this water represents an opportunity to easily take advantage of a renewable resource that is as useful as it is environmentally friendly! Without a collection system, consumers are missing out on taking part in this highly beneficial process that is rapidly gaining popularity. Luckily, Electronic Control Corp. can provide a control system to fit the consumer no matter what size, from a single home to an enterprise level campus or corporation.

The core benefits of a harvesting system are numerous. Rainwater can be used for irrigation, plants, livestock, fire suppression, indoor heating and cooling applications, and even domestic use (drinking, showering, etc.) if the harvesting system conducts treatment. And these are only a few of the uses of harvested rainwater! The fact that this water is acquired on-site means that every bit utilized is pure gain. This can be indispensable at times when water is in short supply. In fact, many consumers on the West Coast are now installing these systems in response to the recent drought that has been plaguing the area. Incentive programs and tax credits for use of these environmentally friendly, reliable, and sustainable systems are in place across the US.

Rainwater Harvesting System Design

The design of a Rainwater Harvesting system can vary greatly depending on the application. On a basic level, water is accumulated on an installed on preexisting surface and allowed to accumulate. Most commonly utilized are rooftops of both houses and large complexes. The gutter system provides the entry point into the harvester. The water then undergoes any treatment that is required for its intended use. This can range from having no treatment or be simply percolated if the water is to be used for a task such as irrigation, or be completely sanitized if the water is to be purposed for domestic use. Methods for this include the popular, efficient, and effective Ozone and Ultraviolet light sanitation systems. After any treatment, the water is then transported and stored to be reused. This can include being pumped to a tank near an area in need of irrigation, or integrating the water into an existing domestic water supply via control valves.

IDEC’s operator interface (OI) offers a great display – bright LCD touch screens and a user-friendly interface. Depending on your rain water harvesting system, the control will be customized to your needs.

Electronic Control Corp is capable of manufacturing UL Listed controls that ensure the harvester is reliable, efficient, cost effective, and requires minimum human interaction. Our controlsEvery homeowner could benefit from a base level, cost effective Harvester Control designed by ECC.

Large corporations, however, will greatly benefit from the advanced features and cutting edge technology that ECC is known for. For this type of operation, ECC would choose to use IDEC Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) as well as their high performance video-capable touchscreen. These robust controllers carry out important functions and allow an operator to manually make changes to the system, as well as view feedback from sensors and component statuses. Troubleshooting is fast because of our mission to provide organized and consistent wiring, informative electrical drawings, and the best choice of components. For example, our use of self-calibrating under/overload motor current monitoring devices make setup and troubleshooting easy for any operator.

ECC also understands how important networking is to our customers. That is why our panels are integrate-able into Building Management Systems (BMS) via Ethernet connections and the BACnet protocol. Even locations where running cables is impossible doesn’t stop ECC: our panels can be fitted with nodes that make wireless communication a breeze. These communication capabilities are extremely useful to our customers that utilize Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) software. This allows a central operation center to receive real time date from the Rainwater Harvester and be able to make changes right from the same location. Trending data can easily be archived for generating usage reports. Even without SCADA, IDEC PLCs are capable of natively serving a webpage which can display real time statuses, send email alerts, and even allow for programming changes from anywhere in the world!

ECC is proud to cater our panels to fit every niche of the Rainwater Harvester industry. We are confident that direct customers as well as system designers looking to private label our products will be more than satisfied with panels designed and built by Electronic Control Corp.