citizen climate adaptation project
Basic information
Project Title
Full project title
Category
Project Description
36 Citizens in the city of Nijmegen (The Netherlands) who live in an old monastery build themselves a community climate adaptation rainwater infiltration and harvesting system. The rainwater flows into a storage tank and when the tank is full the water flows into infiltration crates in the ground. All the rainwater pipes are disconnected from the sewage system. The citizens are tenants of a social housing association and keep this way their rent also low by using the rainwater.
Geographical Scope
Project Region
Urban or rural issues
Physical or other transformations
EU Programme or fund
Which funds
Description of the project
Summary
36 Citizens in the city of Nijmegen (The Netherlands) who live in an old monastery build themselves a community climate adaptation rainwater infiltration and harvesting system. The rainwater flows into a storage tank and when the tank is full the water flows into infiltration crates in the ground. All the rainwater pipes are disconnected from the sewage system.
The amount of rain falling in heavy downpours, will continue to increase. The streets around the building were flooded several times.This project helps the municipality also with delayed draining to the sewage system, by the use of rainwater, or infiltration of rain water in the case of overflow of the rainwater storage tank.
The former monastry was bought by a social housing association (www.wbvg.nl) in 1988. This social housing association tries to keep the rent low by self-activity of an inclusive group of tenants. The monastry itself is hired by a foundation that has self-government and self-management by the tenants.
The tennants just wanted to do their bit for a greener future. The way they did it, is easy to copy. A book and a film with all the do's and don't is underway, when funding is completed.
Key objectives for sustainability
Sustainability Circularity
The amount of rain falling in heavy downpours, will continue to increase. This project helps the municipality with delayed draining to the sewage system by the use of rainwater and by infiltration of rainwater in the case of overflow of the rainwater storage tank. Their street was flooded several times.
Using rainwater for washing means less washing powder and no fabric softener because the water is soft. In summer rainwater is used for the garden and save scarce drinking water in hot periods.
All the materials used are durable and circular.
Inclusive
The rainwater tank was placed in the hole that arose by removing an old oil tank. The garden above the tank is now renewed with drought resistent plants. It is now a playground for children and a meeting place for the tenants. All the tenants worked together on the project, woman, men, young and old, students and labourers. The work was a good place to have mutual contact, chat and learn about each other. Which has now a follow up in the new garden around a garden table above the underground tank now.
Low cost
Saving money by self-activity made the project also an interesting investment towards the future price increase of drinking water. The water-price is rising above inflation for years now. It's expected that this will continue due to increasing challenges in drinking water purification.
To raise the money for the project they layed by every month a few euro's. Within a few years, the fund had 5000 euro's, enough to buy the hardware for the project. It saves now 200.000 liter drinking water per year.
Bottom up
The former monastry was bought by a social housing association (www.wbvg.nl) in 1988. This social housing association tries to keep the rent low by self-activity of tenants. The tenants have self-government and self-management within a foundation.
Regeneration
Regeneration of rainwater cycle. the groundwater level is raised and will be the drinking water of the future.
Key objectives for aesthetics and quality
Sustainable
It gives a good feeling every time flushing the toilet, realising drinking water is saved. Especially during periods of drought.
Also to save water in hot periods the garden has now drought resistent vegetation.
Learning with and from each other makes the community stronger in a sustainable way to the future.
An old oil tank was removed before leaking rest oil in the ground.
Inclusive
Only a small manhole in the garden remains. The garden is more attractive than ever.
Working on realizing the installation was a good place to have mutual contact, chat and learn about each other, tenants as well as neighbours, and every other interested student, citizen or government official.
All has a follow up now in the new garden around a garden table above the underground tank.
It is a great experience in how to manage such a project within a group by self management.
Low cost
Once pay back time is over, only maintenance costs remain, giving (future) tenants lower rent.
Bottom up
The project was partly subsidized by the municipality, only for the infiltration part. The pioneering of combining use of rainwater and infiltration was encouraged and appreciated by the municipality and ministry of environment. The ministry placed the project on their website of climate adaptation examples. The municipality on their website of Nijmegen European green capital.
Regeneration
Future generations wil profit from the infiltrated rainwater, that did not flush to the sea or being confronted with flooded street and house.
Key objectives for inclusion
Sustainable
There is cooperation with a local plumber, who realised the final difficult plumbing and can help in case of future malfunction and maintenance of the system, as tenants with knowledge have holiday or left. So small enterprises are also involved and continuity is sustained.
inclusive
There is cooperation with universities. A student of University Twente made a software model that is available as open source on internet. It was developed to let other citizen's design and build an installation without all the faults made. (https://essay.utwente.nl/77719/1/Geurts-Maartje.pdf )
Exchange of knowledge with students in water management is realised by a weekly webinar ( https://climatecafe.nl/ www.climatescan.nl ), by prof. Boogaard, university of applied sciences Hanze. All these (online) gatherings are available on YouTube.
There is cooperation with the municipality to work on measuring the quality of the rainwater. The municipality is measuring on its own wadis and our installation is unique within the town, so the measuring is broaded to our installation. Does it contain PFAS? Heavy metals? Etc. Because of the infiltration it is important to know if we don't contaminate the bleu water in the underground by infiltration. Information that is of common interest for all future water projects. Also the silting up of the infiltration crates is studied together with the municipality. This is important because such an infiltration system is not really sustainable if it has to be dug up within a few years.
low cost
Modelling of the installation for following by others is done by a student and with that it is open source and is on the internet at no cost for followers. Affordability is also increased by self-activity.
bottom up
The installation is designed following the KISS principle and kept simple.
regeneration
Helping raising groundwater level will provide drinking water to future generations and the installation prevent flooding of streets and rivers
Results in relation to category
This project fulfill the wish of an urban commuity of tenants to create a future rent as low as possible in social housing and doing at the same time something sustainable. Yearly 200.000 liters drinking water is saved, also during hot periods, and 600.000 liters of drinking water is rising the local groundwater level yearly In an inclusive way tenants worked together to realise their own climate adaptive installation. For which they created their own green fund.
The sewage system doesn't have to flush downpours and flooding the neighhbouring street is locally prevented.
In the neighbourhood, on social media and on the internet awareness is created about the use of rain water and working ourself out of the flooding of our street during downpours. A lot of neighbours came looking after our digging to get the rainwater pipes into the ground. About digging, it had to do done by hand. A digging machine was to big for the garden door. On the other side the underground is full of other pipes, glassfiber water and sewage pipes that could have been damaged by a digging machine.
How Citizens benefit
The installation is developed by and for citizens in cooperation with schools, municipality, social media, trade and sustainability magazines, the housing cooperation, SME and university's (modelling & webinars).
Resulting in articles in magazines, on social media, a symposium and a closer community and neighbourhood.
Physical or other transformations
Innovative character
The way of combining using rainwater and infiltration is unusual. Other projects use only one of these two. The project brings open data about the combination. Municipalities tend to surface infiltration, as this is the easiest way of adapting downpours.
Realizing tenants own green fund, by a monthly small amount of money is not common.
Learning about the social aspects of such a project and decision making is new
Self activity in cooperation with local SME is new.
The next innovative challenge is to automate the installation now.
Learning transferred to other parties
The big potential is less flooded streets, especially in urban area's, use of less drinking water during hot periods. More commuities can follow, its all underground, there is is no distraint on surface area. Vegetation on the ground can be replaced by drought resistant vegetation after installation. A lesson learnt is to start with flushing toilets. Toilet flushing is 2/3 of the household use of drinking water! One have not to filter and clean the water to drinking or washing water quality. Local plumbing SME have a new market. Students in water management are educated with webinars and by visiting the installation. Most publications are in the Dutch language, more (social) media in the English language will be provided with an article in the future.
