Trees Atlanta Skydrant Initiative

Trees Atlanta has been a prime force in preserving Atlanta's urban forest while creating new greenspace. In it's 25 year history Trees Atlanta has:

• Planted and distributed more than 75,000 shade trees
• Cared for more than 100,000 trees
• Recruited thousands of volunteers
• Educated an average of 2,000 children and adults annually about the importance of urban trees and how to plant and properly care for them

They are a key stakeholder in Atlanta's BeltLine having begun work on the BeltLine Tree Arboretum. Spanning the entire 22+ mile loop, this will be the world's longest arboretum and will educate residents and visitors on the health, environmental, economic, and energy-saving benefits of urban trees.

In planning for this major community investment, Trees Atlanta wants to partner with property owners along the BeltLine and throughout the city in establishing rainwater collection points to help provide water for the trees and educate the public on using rainwater harvesting for landscape irrigation. These "skydrants" will supply rainwater, which is superior to municipal water for watering trees, and will reduce the organization's demand for city supply.

RainCatchers is proud to partner with Trees Atlanta on this initiative. We are working with them this week on a training installation of the first two skydrants at the Trees Atlanta HQ in Reynoldstown. This is a LEED Platinum facility that already uses rainwater to flush facility toilets and serves as a model for best practices in water-efficiency and conservation. We will be positioning two cisterns to capture rainwater from the operations shed roof. Our 4 step system will be used to capture and store high quality rainwater.

The hope is that these pilot skydrants will be the start of a ripple effect throughout the city.