The hockey rink at the War Memorial Arena is a special place. It’s not only home to the Syracuse Crunch AHL Hockey team, but it’s also home to one of the most unique surfaces in the country. It may look like plain old ice, but the ice for the rink was produced using an innovative water re-use system that captures storm water from the roof of the War Memorial.
In early fall, Onondaga County completed the installation of a 15,000 gallon cistern system in the basement of the War Memorial that is connected to the roof leaders of the building. This collection system allows for the capture, filtration and re-use of stormwater for many reuse purposes. The War Memorial project is the first system in the country designed to use recycled stormwater for a hockey rink and is one of only a handful around the world. Additional uses for the collected stormwater will include irrigation of the 60,000 sq foot OnCenter green roof as well as maintenance and cleaning purposes at the War Memorial.
The project is part of Onondaga County’s Save the Rain program to reduce pollution to Onondaga Lake and will capture an estimated 400,000 gallons of stormwater annually. In 2011, the project received a $712,000.00 grant from New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation (EFC) through its Green Innovation Grant Program (GIGP).
For more information on the War Memorial project, please click on a link below:
http://centralny.ynn.com/content/560477/syracuse-crunch-to-play-on-frozen-rain/
http://www.9wsyr.com/sports/story/The-Crunch-to-play-on-frozen-rain-water/w3wk1rDE7ESk6Gxp3rgcwg.cspx
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2011/10/onondaga_county_syracuse_crunc.html
https://savetherain.us/war-memorial/
