FEDERAL

Rainwater Capture & Storage
System at the U.S. Embassy

Freetown, Sierra Leone

In October 2013, Pernix constructed a rainwater capture and storage system for the U.S. Embassy Compound in Freetown, Sierra Leone to manage the limited availability of potable water. In this region, the rainy season lasts about five months of the year, with average rainfall more than 500 mm per month. Floods fill wells with waste and spread contaminated water to other drinking sources. During the dry season, Sierra Leone experiences droughts with average rainfall less than 50 mm per month. In response to this situation, the U.S. sought a viable long- term solution to acquire a consistent water supply source for the Embassy Compound.

This project formed a model for a small-size, high-efficiency, and low-energy water harvesting and reuse system:
Rainwater is collected through aluminum canopies and concrete platforms.
Rainwater is transmitted by pipelines through a water quality structure as a first purification measure, and then into the pump station to the steel tanks for temporary storage.
Next, water flows by gravity through pipelines to the water treatment plant, where it gets purified and treated to finally be pumped into the domestic water system.
The two steel tanks each have a capacity of more than 900,000 gallons of stored water, which provides the Embassy with clean water during the dry season. The tanks provide the embassy compound with water for domestic use and for irrigation, with the least amount of energy consumed, the most economical water collection and recycling methods, and most importantly the highest levels of environmental preservation and protection of natural resources.
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Owner
Department Of State,

 Overseas Buildings
Operations

Project Type

Design/Bid/Build

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Navigating Challenges

In July 2014, an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus affected West Africa, including Sierra Leone. Our on-site team was evacuated to safety in August. Following safety protocols, local employees kept the site running while procurement, engineering, controls and management activities were performed remotely. The spread of the virus was under control by January 2015, and the decision was made to resume construction. Precautions were analyzed and undertaken, including additional healthcare services available for our team, before we re-mobilized in March.

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