Net-Positive Water Home Control System

Abstract

The Living Building Challenge Team is a project team within BLUElab whose goal is to design an on-site system that will allow an Ann Arbor residential home to be net-positive water, meaning that all the water the home uses will be collected from natural precipitation and stored on site. However, in times when rainwater stores are low, the house must be able to automatically switch to the municipal water supply. The goal of this project is to design and prototype a control system that will interface with the team’s chosen supply components. The system should be able to monitor water levels in the storage tank, automatically turn the supply pump and purification devices on/off, and switch over to municipal water when water levels are too low. The water level and status of system components should be displayed on a user interface for the homeowner. The design must fit within the Living Building requirements, specifically in regards to material selection, and it must fit within the current energy budget of the home. The design must also adhere to all residential codes. By the end of the semester, we would like to have a functioning prototype that could feasibly be installed in the house with the rest of our system.