Tree Skydrants 5 & 6 will bookend new Atlanta BeltLine trail

Trees Atlanta has shown outstanding environmental leadership with their Skydrant Initiative. Through partnerships with property owners they are establishing rainwater collection points throughout the city. Skydrants 4 and 5 were installed last week at Ride On Auto Repair and 824 Memorial Drive. Muchas gracias to these property owners for adopting Skydrants and donating the rain that falls on their property.

Now we're really excited to announce locations for Skydrants 5 and 6. They will be located at Park Tavern and Irwin Street Market. These locations are significant because they essentially bookend the coming Atlanta BeltLine Eastside Trail. Construction on this multi-use trail begins this October. The 14-foot-wide path will stretch from just north of Dekalb Avenue all the way to Piedmont Park.

Trees Atlanta is a key stakeholder in the Atlanta BeltLine with a commitment to establish the Atlanta BeltLine Arboretum, the world's longest linear tree museum, as the corridor is developed. High quality rainwater collected where it falls on the Atlanta BeltLine is an obvious asset for establishing the arboretum and for on-going irrigation of the landscape.

Atlanta BeltLine design objectives for the corridor have included rainwater harvesting as a sustainability strategy from the get-go. No two ways about it, The Park Tavern and Irwin Street Market Skydrants set a good precedent. They also provide an example of how other property owners adjacent to the Atlanta BeltLine can convert their stormwater run-off from a liability into a community asset.

High fives to Paul at Park Tavern and Jake of Irwin Street Properties for partnering with Trees Atlanta and RainCatchers on Skydrants 5 and 6!

Update on Friday, September 24, 2010 at 11:03AM by [Burke Sisco]

 

Skydrant #5 installed at Irwin Street Market, immediately adjacent to the BeltLine at Irwin St./Lake Ave. crossing.

Update on Friday, September 24, 2010 at 12:37PM by [Burke Sisco]

Skydrant #6 at Park Tavern at the Southeast corner of Piedmont Park and immediately adjacent to the coming Eastside BeltLine Trail.

Update on Thursday, December 9, 2010 at 1:04PM by [Burke Sisco]

Park Tavern skydrant with new Trees Atlanta signage:

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.