Introduction

Water is a renewable resource, but with the changing climate, the ever increasing population,
industrial demand and pollution, it is becoming a scarce commodity. For this reason
conservation, harvesting and reuse methods should be looked at and implemented to reduce the
demand on the ever reducing fresh water supply.
Trincity Mall, located on Trincity Central Road, Trincity, Trinidad and Tobago, is the largest mall
in the Caribbean with an approximate size of two million square feet. This mall has over one
hundred thousand people visiting it per week leading to a high consumption of water for the
purposes of flushing, cooking, washing, cleaning etc.
Trinidad and Tobago has two seasons, a dry season and a wet season with a yearly average of
about eighty seven inches of rain. This rainwater can be harvested, treated, stored and reused for
processes such as flushing of toilets, cleaning, washing down compound(maintenance of
compound??), watering vegetation at the mall and in the neighbouring Gulf course, thereby
limiting the overall demand from the local water supplier, Water and Sewerage Authority
(WASA).
The purpose of this study is to determine whether it will be cost effective for Trincity Mall to
construct a water system that would be used to harvest and treat this storm water runoff to be
utilized for purposes listed above.
Currently Trincity Mall depends solely on WASA for its water demands. The mall consumes an
average of 821m3 of water on a daily basis and with a rate of $3.50 per cubic metre; the mall
spends an average of $2874.00 per day on water.

The surfaces to be considered to collect this water will be the roofing system as well as the malls
car park surface. A centralized collection zone will be used together with a treatment system that
will be sufficient for the pollutants that will be present in the storm water runoff.
Pollutants to expect:

Bacteria
Hydrocarbons and Vehicle By-products
Sediments
Metals
Nutrients
Temperature

The malls surface area will be determined by scaled plan drawings, this surface area together
with the last available yearly rainfall will be used to calculate the volume of runoff that can be
generated. The collection zones size and location will be determined depending on the amount
of water that can be generated in a location where all water runoff can be easily collected with
minimal disturbance to the malls existing system and current infrastructure.
Various treatment systems will be researched and a system will be developed that will meet the
required standard of effluent. This system will also be evaluated on the basis of cost
effectiveness, taking into consideration the construction and maintenance of the unit.
Goals and Objectives
This initiative of this project is to not only provide financial savings but also to prevent the
depletion of our fresh water reserves. By harvesting the rain water, the demand on fresh water
will be greatly reduced and not only lead to water conservation but also lead to financial savings
as the company will have reduced water consumption from the water authority.

It is also beneficial as it can be used as a template for other companies and organizations to
utilize their structures in the same manner, leading to more environmentally friendly structures,
with a money saving perk.
Scope
This project entails the use of Trincity Malls roofing and Car-park surfaces to convey rain water
to a collection zone where it would be treated and reused for purposes of:

Washing down surfaces

Watering vegetation
Flushing toilets
General cleaning purposes (e.g. Mopping)

This water will not be used for any cooking or hygienic purposes.
All information and details used in this report are relevant to data available at the time of the
report. Statistical data as well as rates used are subject to change as time progresses.