At a Glance

Leading edge, onsite water infrastructure enables a senior living community to treat a portion of its greywater and reuse it for toilet flushing and irrigation, reducing reliance on potable water.

Project Description

Situated on 22-acres overlooking the Willamette River, Rose Villa is a nonprofit, single-site Continuing Care Retirement Community with a mission to help older adults to live the life of their own choosing. In addition to open mindedness, curiosity, and authenticity, Rose Villa values sustainability and has embraced a variety of environmental practices throughout their campus. Established in 1960, the community began a three-phase development project in 2014 to better serve its growing population and continue pursuing its mission.

For the final phase of development, which involves a street-level commons, loft apartments, a residential care facility, parking facilities, and a children’s development center and playground, Rose Villas sought to incorporate appropriate water infrastructure to offset potable water use and enhance campus self-sufficiency. As part of an integrated design team led by Scott Edwards Architecture, Biohabitats provided design, engineering, permitting, and construction oversight services to develop a district-scale greywater treatment and reuse system.

Greywater from Schroeder Lofts showers, tubs, bathroom sinks and residential laundry is captured, treated onsite and reused for toilet flushing in Schroeder Lofts and Trillium Townhomes and for site irrigation. The treatment system consists of pre-filtration, secondary treatment via Advantex® textile filters, filtration and disinfection, and re-pressurization.