Water, water, everywhere-but not a drop for free.

Besides considerable electric and heating bills, shelters must pay through the hose to keep animals hydrated and kennels clean.  "The use of water in animal care facilities is big, just because of all the cleaning that goes on.  So finding ways to conserve water becomes a big part of these green building designs.

At Dallas Animal Services, six large planters in the shelter's parking lot house cells to treat wastewater, recycling more than 10,000 gallons a month.  Curington says this tidal wetlands system is one of the strongest green programs the agency has.

The Potter League for Animals in Middletown, R.I., has also incorporated ways to recycle water at its new facility, which is still under construction.  Executive director Christie Smith explains that the building's steeply pitched roof collects rainwater in its gutters and funnels it into cisterns.  Since the League sits on marshland where there is plenty of rainfall, the cisterns fill up with enough water to use for cleaning.  An infrastructure of pipes connects the cisterns to hoses, which are hooked up to spray bottles of cleaning agents for safe and efficient disinfection.

The roof has a flat section as well, and the shelter uses it as a roof garden which collects water while doubling as insulation.  This vegetated roof then drains the unabsorbed water from the plants and soil into the cisterns.  Even the shelter's driveway works much the same way, allowing rain to percolate through layers of gravel, and ultimately be reused for cleaning purposes. Although the recycled water is not potable, and the water company will still supply water for drinking purposes, Smith says that most of the shelter's water expenses will be defrayed-in a way that benefits the environment.

Haisley had his own take on drinking water when designing the WARL facility.  "The traditional bowl of water in a shelter doesn't end up in the dog's mouth; it ends up all over the dog den," he says.  Dogs at WARL now have self-filling water bowls attached to the shelter's water lines.  Six inches in diameter, the bowls are mounted to the walls of the dog dens, and only hold about a cup of water.  

Haisley says this keeps dogs from overturning their bowls, which wastes water, gets them dirty, and creates humidity and stench.  He believes the $200,000 system is worth every penny; it pays WARL back in time and energy otherwise spent cleaning dogs and floors, while making the shelter (and the dry dogs) more appealing to adopters.

Source: Animalsheltering.org