How can you beat a name like Rainwater HOG (HOG)? When I walked through the March 2009 PG&E Water Conservation Showcase in San Francisco, my attention was drawn to a group of tall, handsome, and eye-catching Australians. They were 6 feet tall and dark green, with the word “HOG” subtly inscribed on them.
The What: The Rainwater HOG provides an innovative rainwater storage solution that makes rainwater harvesting accessible to the general population, thereby minimizing potable water usage. Each Rainwater HOG is a 50 gallon, light-weight, 100% recyclable, UV stabilized vessel that is made from either virgin food-grade polyethylene or a non-food-grade tank with 15% recycled content. Each module is like a building block, which can be added to based on capacity needs, and can be installed horizontally or vertically, in a series, and without the use of any footings.
Incorporating mechanisms for rainwater harvesting into a project is often daunting. The simplicity of this modular system is user friendly, thus making it easy to transfer captured rainwater from the roof to a HOG. The harvested water can then be used to irrigate the landscape, supply water to the toilet tanks, and for other applications which do not require potable water. By supplementing it with a filtering system, stored water in a HOG can also be used as an emergency drinking water source. As a bonus, a Rainwater HOG installation can contribute valuable LEED credits on a LEED certified project.
The Who: Sally Dominguez is an architect and an inventor with over 10 years of experience in domestic-scale, environmentally sensitive design. When she was practicing architecture in her homeland (Australia), the country was going through severe drought periods and clients were interested in harvesting rainwater. Sally asked many manufacturers if they would provide residential scaled water storage tanks, but their universal answer to her was, “they shouldn’t even bother.” As a result, she took the matter into her own hands by designing her own water storage tank and invented the Rainwater HOG.
After receiving much interest on her website from Americans, Sally exhibited the HOG at the 2007 West Coast Green Residential Building Conference + Expo in San Francisco, California where it generated much buzz. Realizing the huge market potential in the U.S. and needing to be where the action is, Sally and her husband Simon moved to the San Francisco Bay Area, California in April 2008. They started manufacturing their products in June, and launched the American HOGs in September 2008 with immediate success. To-date, the Rainwater HOG has won the prestigious Spark! Award for Design and the Eco Product Award from California Home + Design magazine, and was named as one of the 2008 Top 10 Green Building Products by BuildingGreen.
The HOG’s clean, modern design can be highlighted in an installation, or discretely placed against a wall, fence, or even within a wood deck. Water conservation becomes second nature with products like the Rainwater HOG. For more information, visit their site at www.rainwaterhog.com.
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