2015 Rainwater Harvesting Highlights

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As we close the books on 2015, the team at RainBank would like to thank our colleagues, customers, suppliers and strategic partners for a year that exceeded our expectations for residential and commercial interest in rainwater harvesting for potable and non-potable applications. We’d like to share with you some of our highlights for the year:

In March we shared how architectural and engineering firms are including rainwater collection systems in their designs. Government agencies are beginning to understand the connection between stormwater management and rainwater collection. Read more…

As such, we wrote about how 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. Read more…

RainBank has completed so many steel tank builds, we’ve created a gallery of these beauties. Click here to view.

Whether you’re considering a potable, or non-potable system, storage is always a big decision in the design and installation of a rainwater harvesting system.  Click here to read more about the types of storage vessels available.

We get so many inquiries about whether or not rainwater collection is legal in the Seattle area, so we shared this post to help clear up confusion.

As RainBank grows, we have added services to make us your one-stop-shop for quality advice and products for and about rainwater harvesting systems. Here is our blog post announcing the launch of our shopping cart. We will be adding more products in 2016.

As we say goodbye to 2015, RainBank will continue developing strategic relationships with colleagues and suppliers. We want to be YOUR go-to expert for consulting, design, installation and high quality rainwater harvesting products that will keep your system running for many years.

Water is a basic human right; we value that. We wish you a happy, healthy and safe 2016 and we look forward to working with you in the future.

Climate Change and Water Scarcity

ball-1055956_640At the Paris World Climate Summit held in December 2015, participants overwhelmingly agreed to work on a legally binding agreement to reduce carbon output as soon as possible. While currently non-binding, there is commitment to “do their best to reduce their carbon output”.  Global warming is expected to account for approximately 20% increase in water scarcity this century.

According to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), “Climate change will have significant impact on the sustainability of water supplies in the coming decades.”

The Federal Clean Water Needs Survey identified over $100 billion in needed infrastructure in the next 20 years to address stormwater and sewage overflows.

The NRDC goes on to explain that capturing rainwater from rooftops is an effective water resource management strategy that increases supply and reduces pollution.

The unnecessary use of potable water for non-potable uses, such as outdoor landscape irrigation and indoor toilet flushing, climate change and continually increasing areas of impervious surfaces in our landscape, results in stormwater runoff carrying pollution to our rivers, lakes, and beaches. Although the problems of water supply and water pollution can be complex, practical solutions for both are available now, such as capturing and using rainwater from rooftops.

Rooftop rainwater capture is a simple, cost-effective approach for supplying water that promotes sustainable water management. Reusing rainwater, rather than allowing it to run off of paved surfaces to pick up pollutants and carry them to nearby surface waters, is a practice which provides numerous benefits:

  • Inexpensive, on-site supply of water that can be used for outdoor non-potable uses with little, if any, treatment, or for a variety of additional uses including potable supply with appropriately higher levels of treatment
  • Reduced (or no) energy and economic costs associated with treating and delivering potable water to end users because capture systems often use low-volume, non-pressurized, gravity fed systems or require only the use of a low power pump for supply
  • Reduced strain on existing water supply sources
  • Reduced runoff that would otherwise contribute to stormwater flows, a leading cause of surface water pollution and urban flooding.

Seattle has adopted “Rooftops to Rivers” strategies for controlling storm water and combined sewer overflows. Updated code and regulations can be found here.

Encyclopedic Repository On Rainwater Harvesting

encyclopedicWhen RainBank’s president and founder Ken Blair started blogging about rainwater collection in January 2014, the plan was not to only to showcase his industry expertise, but to create a repository where folks interested in capturing and reusing rainwater, whether for commercial or residential, potable and non-potable applications, would have a resource for free, timely and useful information.

Our goal for 2016 is to continue sharing stories and knowledge about rainwater collection, harvesting, and recapture – however you choose to label this term as the industry moves from niche to mainstream.

Below is an excerpt from one of our first blog posts about building a simple rainwater collection system. It’s worth another read, or if you’re new to RainBank and seeing it for the first time, let us know your thoughts.

Cottage without gutter screen

“All rainwater catchment systems begin at the roof and gutters. Whether you want to irrigate, supplement, or go for potable (drinking water) usage, you need to remove debris before storing rainwater.”  Read more…

RainBank publishes (at least) three blog posts per week, chronicling current events and items of interest about rainwater harvesting systems, consulting, design, products, and more.

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