Montreal: Recovering Rainwater

1. Direction de l’eau
Direction de
l’environnement et
du développement
durable
Faced with
In Montréal Would you like information to select the
techniques and equipment best suited to your
climate change
Precipitation (rain, hail, snow or freezing environment?
rain) is increasing in frequency and intensity.
As a result: Contact your Éco-quartier or an environmental
organization in your area.
• there is a greater risk of sewer
There you will be able to obtain advice or get a
backflows on the street and in
referral to a specialized resource.
basements
• there is an increase in the costs of
disasters and insurance premiums
related to water damage Faced with climate change
Year after year, the Montréal climate is
affected by climate change.
The summers tend to become longer, the
heat waves more frequent and the dry
spells increase. Such situations contribute
DID YOU KNOW THAT... toward worsening already existing problems,
including:
Under Bylaw 2008-47 on
water purification, issued by the • greater incidence of respiratory problems
Communauté métropolitaine de • loss of vegetation and withering of
Montréal landscaping
“When drainage water from roofs • drying out of soil
The suggestions in this pamphlet are of a general nature and
is collected by a gutter system may not suit all buildings. Since each building has its own • cracking of foundations in clay soil
specific characteristics, a professional should be consulted in
[...], this water must be directed
order to make sure that any of the
onto the surface of the soil, at suggested methods is appropriate.
Design: incubestudio.ca
RecOveRINg
least 1.5 metres from a building, No. of days when the temperature is 30°C
This project is financed by the Green Fund,
within Action 2.1 of the 2006-2012 Action Plan and over in Montréal
while avoiding infiltration toward
on Climate Change (APCC).
RAINWATeR
any foundation drain.“ *30-year In *Forecast
Printed on FSC-certified paper average 2005 2030-2040
July 2009
8 days 22 days 46 days
*Source: Environment Canada, 2002
ville.montreal.qc.ca/environnement

2. RecOveRINg RAINWATeR PReveNT
HeAT STROKe :
gO gReeN!
TO PROTecT TO PReSeRve TO HAve A In summer, plants keep walls in the shade,
THe FOUNDATION YOUR ReSeRve OF preventing heat build-up there . In winter, the
falling leaves help store the heat of the sun.
OF YOUR BUILDINg LANDScAPINg QUALITY WATeR Plants also contribute toward purifying and
refreshing the air.
Nearly 50% of Montréal buildings are constructed A gutter equipped with a simple, inexpensive Storing rainwater in reservoirs helps build up a A vegetation barrier may be set up directly on
on clay soil. Champlain clay contracts when device that directs the rainwater toward the lawn, reserve of unchlorinated water, ideal for watering the outside surface materials of your building or
it dries. The stress then placed on building the vegetable garden, the landscaping or trees the garden and plants, in addition to saving by growing climbing plants on a lattice support,
foundations may cause cracks in the building. The helps hydrate the soil and better preserve the drinking water. a few inches from the wall.
average cost of a repair is $17,000. This problem vegetation in dry periods.
might reoccur from time to time with the global Place your barrel at a certain height in order to Climbing plants on south and west walls of a
warming trend. Take precautions. Use rainwater A downspout extender or self-coiling diverter, a take advantage of the effect of gravity when traditional house may cut down up to 25% on
to keep the soil moist. percolating well, a drainage trench… These are watering. “Ready-to-install” equipment is air conditioning costs (Labrecque and Vergriete,
some of the many ways of redirecting the water available in hardware stores. 2007).
from the roof to infiltrate the soil. Just make
sure to direct the water at least 1.5 metres from
your building foundation, without doing anything
detrimental to your neighbours.
How can you do more?
Grow a rain garden.
If your grounds are suitable for a rain garden,
consider growing a rain garden. Select plants that
like to have their “feet in the water”.