Tate Inc., a manufacturer of raised access floors and data center management solutions, has completed the installation of a 55,000-gallon underground rainwater harvesting system at its Red Lion, Pa., facility.
The system will collect an estimated 1.3 million gallons of water annually from roof runoff and groundwater collection, all of which will be used in the company’s manufacturing process. The filtered rainwater will be mixed with cement and other ingredients to create a cementitious mixture that fills the company’s steel ConCore raised access floor panels.
“This rainwater harvesting system will have a major impact on our company sustainability goals. Not only are we reducing our demand on municipal water supplies and stormwater drainage systems, but we’re also reducing rainwater runoff which can carry harmful pollutants to our local waterways,” says Daniel Kennedy, Tate’s general manager. “Our concrete fill line is one of the most water-intensive parts of our manufacturing process, so we’re excited to make the transition to 100% rainwater for that process.”
As a division of Kingspan, Tate is part of the company’s ambitious 10-year global sustainability program, Planet Passionate. All Kingspan companies throughout the world participate in the initiative, which aims to impact three major global issues: climate change, circularity and protection of our natural world. The rainwater harvesting system was installed as part of the Planet Passionate program and the water collected at the Red Lion facility will make up about 20 percent of the company’s total water usage and nearly 25 percent of the total water usage at that facility. The system will also contribute 5 percent of Kingspan’s 2030 goal of collection 100 million liters annually across all its divisions. Other Planet Passionate initiatives that Tate is implementing include the elimination of all company waste being sent to landfill, which was achieved in 2020, installing rooftop solar PV systems on its owned manufacturing facilities and making the conversion to all electric company cars.
The Eco-Rain system that was chosen for this rainwater harvesting project is made up of 100 percent recycled crates that were assembled onsite and wrapped with a protective liner to collect the rainwater. Tate partnered with local company Hydroscapes for the design and installation of the system.
View more information about the Planet Passionate program or the rainwater harvesting system.