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Tasting Notes

A sophisticated rainwater collection system for Yavapai College’s viticulture and enology education center and tasting room.

Cottonwood, Arizona

Skywater’s Strategy

Our original goal for Yavapai College’s new vineyard-to-bottle wine-education center was net-zero municipal water use. Though we designed a rainwater harvesting system that would satisfy 100 percent of the facility’s water demand, costs associated with required local health inspections nixed the idea.

Our revised design combines passive and active rainwater collection to meet all landscaping water needs. Located within the school’s estate vineyard, the wine center includes a public tasting room that called for special aesthetic and functional considerations. We added an elegant sculptural funnel to capture water from roof scuppers while adding architectural interest. Overflows are efficiently plumbed back into the landscape’s passive irrigation system. Multiple landscape basins graded to maximize run-off capture assist with stormwater mitigation while regenerating valuable habitat for plants and wildlife. LEED certified.

Specifications

Average annual precipitation: 11 in.

Capture surface: 8,600 sq. ft., EPDM roof, pre-cast pavers

Pre-filtration: 2 WISY 150 vortex pre-filters

Storage and system: 2 5,000 gal. galvanized steel tanks, landscape basins and soil

Pump: 1.0 HP submersible pump

Team

Designer: Barnabas Kane for Skywater and T. Barnabas Kane & Assoc.

Installer: Skywater Rainwater Collection Systems

Architect: Boxwood

Funnel fabricator: Royce Carlson

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