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Making every drop count at the campus greenhouse

A new rainwater harvesting system is coming to George Mason University’s Presidents Park Greenhouse, thanks to a donation from the Society for a Secure and Sustainable Water Future, a nonprofit organization based in James City County, Virginia, and dedicated to advancing long-term water sustainability through practical solutions, sound policy, and public education. 

The Presidents Park Greenhouse, located on the Fairfax Campus, is managed by University Sustainability's Greenhouse and Gardens program. Alexander Jarvis, a graduate student in George Mason’s MS in Environmental Science and Policy Program, founded the nonprofit and runs it with his parents, Leslie and Tyrone Jarvis. 

RainwaterHarvesting
The Jarvis family is installating the rainwater harvesting system themselves, in collaboration with Facilities and Campus Operations. Photo by Ariba “Zoa” Sharin/Facilities and Campus Operations

“The project is intended to help demonstrate practical sustainability implementation while contributing to broader conversations surrounding resilience, infrastructure demand, and future environmental planning,” said Jarvis.

The rainwater harvesting system will collect, store, and filter rooftop runoff through a solar-powered pumping system. The nonpotable water will be used to water the nonedible plants at the greenhouse and will be transported to other campus gardens during drought. The Jarvis family is completing the installation themselves in coordination with Facilities and Campus Operations staff.

The amount of rainwater recovered by the system will vary, depending on rainfall amounts, but George Mason students or staff could collect data on the system in the future.

In addition to the donation from Jarvis’s nonprofit, the project received approximately $2,000 from the Patriot Green Fund, an sustainability fund that George Mason’s Facilities and Campus Operations unit administers to support sustainable infrastructure improvements and student research projects on campus.

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