All posts by Ken Blair

A rainwater collection systems designer and consultant, Ken has designed and installed residential and commercial systems, primarily in the northwest United States for more than 10 years and, in 2014, began consulting and managing builds in other states. Ken is an accredited ARCSA Professional Designer / Installer and Life Member, the Northwest Regional ARCSA representative and advisor to its education committee and is available to speak about Rainwater Collection Systems design and builds. Ken is a United States Navy veteran, having served on active duty during the Vietnam War era. A career entrepreneur, Ken created a new business focus with a commercial dive company in Hawaii in the mid 1980′s to respond to and clean up oil spills, oil spill equipment training, service and maintenance for the oil co-op service industry. Ken is passionate about having a positive impact on the environment and is also a founding director of BANK-ON-RAIN (2011-2014), whose mission is to create grassroots solutions for rainwater collection for consumption and agriculture in developing areas of the planet.
Rainwater Catchment, Sustainability

The Greenest Residence in the Country

Seattle based RainBank Rainwater Systems is a proud participant in the construction of the greenest residence in the country.

Heron Hall, designed by Jason McLennan, included rainwater collection as its sole source of water for his residence.

RainBank Rainwater systems installed a 15,000 gallon Contain Water Tank, along with filtration and ultra violet disinfection for potable household use. Much of the vetting of materials were already part of RainBank’s design theory and were easily appointed for this project.

“Tracy and Jason F. McLennan discovered their front door in a corner at Earthwise Architectural Salvage in Seattle. Before serving as a department-store display, it was hand-carved in Afghanistan. “People were a little shorter then,” says Jason. “I’m 6-2. I had to build a pedestal for it.” Eventually, that pedestal will hold a quote: “All that can save us is a sustained awakening of the human heart.” (Steve Ringman/The Seattle Times)”

RainBank Rainwater Systems is pleased to be part of this worthy educational project.

Click here to read more about the resources used, as published in the Seattle Times.

Environment, Infrastructure

Conservation Considerations

Construction projects throughout the Pacific Northwest are incorporating conservation practices and rainwater harvesting into their designs in order to meet new stormwater management requirements set by city, state, and federal mandates.

Conservation practices such as Green Building Certifications, Leadership in Energy and Environment Designs (LEED), and The Living Building Challenge are being asked of architects, designers, and contractors.

Environment, not cash, encourages conservation, according to UCLA researchers when asking families to save electricity. The same is true when water is the topic of conservation, mostly because savings are minimal compared to the low cost of municipal water. However, considering the costs of designing and implementing infiltration as compliance with local stormwater / drainage codes, with little benefit to the developer, costs can become part of the equation.

Rainwater harvesting is an integral part of conservation when used effectively. Irrigation typically requires a large amount of storage lending itself to more of a commercial application.

Water closets and laundry facilities supplied by rainwater can be an effective use of rainwater for both commercial and residential usage with limited storage amounts and treatment. Together they account for approximately 48% of household usage according to the American Water Works Association (AWWA) and can often be enough mitigation to meet drainage requirements. With filtration and disinfection rainwater can be used as a supplementary source to municipal water or as a “sole source” supply for those who meet hardship requirements from county health and planning departments. Water quality is exceptional when designed and installed properly by an approved designer/installer.

Rainwater harvesting for beneficial use plays an important role in conservation by minimizing groundwater decline while improving our aquifers. It conserves and prevents surface water runoff, minimizing pollutants from entering our bodies of water. Rainwater harvesting bypasses the centralized water system, conserving energy. A decentralized water system reduces demands of our municipal water supplies. When properly designed, and treated, rainwater can be a sustainable, viable source of water for many uses while preserving our supplies for future generations.

Rainwater Catchment

How Do I Opt Out of City Water?

We wrote about this topic all the way back in 2014. We think it bears a repeat for the many folks who are recently learning that rainwater collection is a viable option in the Seattle area and want or need to opt out of using city water.

Do you know that you can collect 624 gallons of water from 1 inch of rain with only 1,000 sq ft of roof area?  

That’s water that you can use for irrigation, toilet flushing, laundry, or even whole house potable (drinking) use. That’s right! 624 gallons. If you have a 1,500 square foot roof area in the Seattle area, this equates to 33,642 gallons of available water. Water that you don’t need to pay for.

Read more…