Denise Membreno

Denise writes about the people and places of Smith Mountain Lake in "Shorelines," published bi-weekly.

Recent columns

• Walter's Greenhouse: Well rooted in the community
• Park gearing up for return of the osprey
• As waistline expanded, wallet deflated
• Countertops seem bare without tomatoes

Keith and Laura Frazier like having running water. Who doesn't?

If your house is served by a well (or even a municipal system, i.e. Atlanta), you have a limited amount available from the tap.

When the Fraziers built their house on the Franklin County side of Smith Mountain Lake, they knew they wanted a rainwater-management system. Lack of sufficient water flow at their Roanoke County home prompted them to get a rainwater-collection system there four years ago.

"I drilled 250 feet at the home in Roanoke County and didn't even get a gallon of water per minute," recalled Keith Frazier. "At 400 feet, I picked up three more gallons. I went 500 feet and got four. I stopped there.

"I don't have enough water to irrigate or wash cars," Frazier added. "I've got three daughters, and that's just enough to get through showers in the morning."

Increased development and lack of rain have caused the water table to drop. That means there is less water in the well from which to draw.

So the Fraziers called on Rainwater Management Solutions in Salem. David and Ed Crawford installed a system that collects rain from the roof of the Fraziers' barn in Roanoke County.

"When we built this place at the lake, it was the same situation," Frazier said. "We had enough water to run the house, but not enough to do other things."

The Fraziers invested in another rainwater-management system that they use to irrigate the landscaping around the house.

"We connected all of the downspouts on his house to two main truck lines," said Ed Crawford, vice president of operations for Rainwater Management Solutions. "The water is filtered before it goes into the 3,400-gallon storage tank in the ground."

The Fraziers also installed a drip-irrigation system that runs under the mulch around the plants. Ed Crawford said the drip-irrigation system is a more efficient way to water, because there is less lost to evaporation. It also promotes deeper root growth in the plants. The system is set up on a timer and has a rain sensor so it does not run after a rainfall.

A rainwater-harvesting system can cost anywhere from $7,000 to $15,000. One of the biggest expenses is the storage tank. Ed Crawford said the Fraziers' system at their lake home cost in the neighborhood of $9,000-$10,000.

The Fraziers said they installed the system to protect the investment they made in their plants and because they do not believe in drawing water from the lake for irrigation. Several years ago the Fraziers told the other members of their homeowners association they were going to put in a rainwater system for irrigation.

"This August, they contacted me to help buy a $3,000 pump to pull water from the lake," Frazier said. "I told them I'd already put in my system. I don't begrudge them for what they are doing. I just don't want them to use my money to do it."

Water levels at Smith Mountain Lake are affected by many factors: the amount of rainfall; the amount of water coming in from its feeder sources, the Roanoke and Blackwater Rivers; evaporation during the warm weather months; and people pumping water out of the lake.

Appalachian Power Co. owns and operates Smith Mountain Dam as well as the dam on Leesville Lake. Smith Mountain Lake was created to provide hydroelectric power. The two lakes together make it possible to operate Smith Mountain Dam as a "pumped storage" operation; water can be pumped from Smith Mountain Lake into Leesville Lake and then back into Smith Mountain Lake during the electricity-creating process.

There also is a required amount that has to be released from the Leesville Dam into the Staunton River to meet the needs of the communities along that river.

"We do have an obligation down river," said John Shepelwich, spokesman for AEP.

"Just as we expect folks up river from us to be cognizant of what they do with the river that has an impact at Smith Mountain Lake and Leesville Lake, we must understand we affect habitats, recreation and industry down river."

Rainwater Management Solutions provides solutions for rainwater- and storm-water management. It provides professional design, consulting and engineering services to its residential and industrial clients. Working with the people at Smith Mountain Lake is of particular interest to Ed Crawford, who has lived on the lake in Union Hall since 1979.

Managing runoff is important to the water quality of the lake, he said. Water runoff carries with it phosphates from fertilizers, E. coli bacteria and other pollutants. At Beechwood Shores in Moneta, RMS designed a system to reuse backwash from the development's swimming pool. They now use that water for irrigation.

"We used to pump about 1,000 gallons a month into a drain that possibly flowed into Smith Mountain Lake," said Tim Haer, director of building and grounds for Beechwood Shores.

The Environmental Protection Agency stepped in and told Beechwood Shores it had to find another way to dispose of the backwash and fined it $1,000 a day until the problem was solved.

"I called everywhere from Chicago to Houston, Texas, and Crawford was the only person who had any expertise in dealing with rainwater or water that you needed to distribute for other uses," Haer said. "We had to de-chlorinate the water, and Ed helped us shop around for a company that sells de-chlorinating equipment."

"It's about the right use of water," Crawford said. "We are drawing down the water table, and we know roughly two percent of the water on earth is drinkable, and we are rapidly depleting that with growth and development. We have to come up with alternate ways to supply our water."

"I think it adds value to my property," Frazier said of his rainwater-harvesting system. "It's just the right thing to do."

ON THE WEB:

Department of Environmental Quality: www.deq.virginia.gov

American Electric Power: www.aep.com/environmental/recreation/hydro/Default.asp

Rainwater Management Solutions: www.rainwatermanagement.com