The design of the water catchment system for the Appalachian Community Health & Disaster Readiness Project derived from ten main heuristics. The group carefully narrowed its focuses on ten main aspects for the driving of the project. From these heuristics, the group then battled with the question of scale of the project based on community usage vs individual usage. The group decided that A design focused on helping an individual at their residence would have a stronger impact and promote the community’s wellbeing in the shortest amount of time. The group thought the main four heuristics: sustainable, adaptable, accessible, and affordable, should be the bones of the design and be as integrated into the project as possible. The group then separated to have individual design time then came together to collaborate on all the ideas, utilizing the strengths and weaknesses of each design to incorporate into the final result. From there the group chose a biosand filter. The group then designed layouts to incorporate their design into different topographies. The group then traveled to Clay County and had a first-hand experience of the lifestyle and conditions. They then met to discuss how they could incorporate and alter their design to meet the needs of the community based on what they had learned from their experiences while there. The final design incorporates either a stand-alone system that can be integrated into gardens, farms, or crops, or a gutter attachment that can filter and purify rain runoff from the house or building.
 

Utilizing skills in AutoCAD, SketchUp, Photoshop, Indesign, Sustainability, and Passive Systems.