Monthly Archives: June 2015

Commercial Rainwater Harvesting, Rainwater Catchment

Rainwater Collection Can Be Part of Architectural Design

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Rainwater collection can be part of architectural design, adding distinction to a building, bringing awareness to conservation, and letting others learn about the responsibility of green building practices.

02915SeaScoutsMany new commercial construction projects are implementing stormwater management into their architectural designs, rather than simply meeting new regulations. Building designers and owners are showcasing their commitment to conservation, and incorporating functionality with aesthetics, in turn, this practice furthers customer and general public interest in conservation and rainwater collection, creating even more public awareness of the need for conservation and sustainable living practices.

“Lead by example”, my father used to say, “and it will inspire others to do the same.” Good advice when trying to do the right thing. Seattle and many other cities are recognizing the importance of rainwater collection as a method of controlling stormwater and are seeing the benefits associated with doing so.

Goodwill Building
Goodwill Building

Other projects that RainBank Rainwater Systems has been involved with include:

  • Sea Scouts building in Galveston, TX (top, left)
  • The Goodwill Building, Seattle, WA (right)
  • Edith Green Federal Building in Portland, OR
  • Federal Way School District, WA
  • Paul Allan’s project, South Lake Union, Seattle
  • Kirkland Safety Building, WA
  • Wallingford Fire Department, Seattle
  • Federal Aviation Building Neah Bay, WA
  • Tacoma School District Tacoma, WA
  • Seattle Arts Academy
  • Puget Sound Energy Seattle
  • Port of Gray’s Harbor, WA
  • Mill Creek Shopping Center, WA
  • Orcas Island School District, WA
  • Fort Lewis (Joint Base Lewis-McChord), WA – and more.

Sea Scouts Base photo courtesy of GuidryNews.com

Rainwater Catchment

Stormwater is a Visible Component at Botanical Garden

swamp-lily-474446_640A Florida nonprofit organization has constructed and enacted a sustainable plan to capture rainwater for reuse in irrigation. In the true spirit of “it takes a village”, the Naples Botanical Gardens put together a robust team of professionals to develop its master building plan. According to an article in the Naples (Florida) News, the team included landscape architects, garden professionals, a restoration ecologist and a civil engineer.

Throughout the development, the team addressed the unglamorous topic of stormwater management by bringing it to the forefront and highlighting its importance in managing a sustainable lifestyle.

Stormwater becomes a visible component of the landscape.

“Stormwater isn’t sexy,” says Deputy Director Chad Washburn, pointing out that managing stormwater is vital to the project. “We are in the habit of hiding stormwater runoff, but whether visitors realize it or not, we are showcasing it at Naples Botanical Garden.”

Visitors are greeted in the parking lot by a collection of rain gardens and three “bioswales”. According to Rain Garden Network, a rain garden is a shallow depression that is planted with deep-rooted native plants and grasses. The garden should be positioned near a runoff source like a downspout, driveway or sump pump to capture rainwater runoff and stop the water from reaching the sewer system.

The runoff is captured during the rainy season and saved for reuse during drier times, giving the gardens much needed water to allow species like gumbo-limbo, cypress, leather fern, swamp lilies and palmettos to survive and thrive.

How-to, Rainwater Catchment

Build a Rainwater Collection System – Throwback Thursday

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slimline tanksHere is a series of articles previously published by RainBank, on how to build a rainwater collection system.

The first post in the series focused on how all rainwater collection systems begin at the roof and gutters. Regardless of purpose, i.e. irrigation, supplementation or drinking, debris must be removed before storing rainwater.

The second, third, fourth and fifth posts in the series talked about tank types, tank sizes, how to keep water clean and kinds of filters to consider for your system.

In post six of the how-to build a rainwater collection system series, we cover managing aesthetics so your system fits into your landscaping  design.

If you’re interested in learning about how to install a rainwater collection system, take a look back at these helpful articles.

If you want to continue to read about rainwater collection and harvesting, remember to click the box below, to receive an email when a new post is launched on this blog.  Thanks for reading!