All posts by RainBankAdmin

Sustainability

Californians Rise to Calls to Cut Water Use

watering-791312_640As reported in the Los Angeles Times, Californians  have risen to calls to cut water use and achieved an overall 29% reduction during May 2015, exceeding Gov. Brown’s mandate that use be cut by 25% statewide.

The state’s hard hitting push to educate residents of the dire need to change habits through sustainable landscaping, upgrading appliances and simply by taking shorter showers, has clearly had a positive effect.

The article reports: ‘The savings are based on data submitted by the more than 400 urban water suppliers, which must meet or exceed specified savings beginning in June or face potential fines. Among those water suppliers that showed significant improvements in the latest round of reporting were the California Water Service-Bakersfield, with a 37% cut; Orange County’s Serrano Water District, with a 43% reduction; and Riverside County’s Lake Hemet Municipal Water District, with a 49% savings.”

Way to go Californians – keep up the good work! Your diligence will be absolutely necessary throughout the summer, but with a few more good months under your belts, continued education and outreach, and by maintaining sustainable living habits, you can make meaningful and long-lasting modifications.

Rainwater Catchment, Sustainability

Is Our Planet Running Out of Water?

children-409228_640The Washington Post, using NASA data, is reporting that the planet is indeed running out of water at rates that are frightening.

According to NASA satellite data, on a worldwide basis, more fresh water is being taken out of aquifers than is going into them. This means that our planet’s water supply has hit levels that are not sustainable in the long-term.

“The situation is quite critical,” said Jay Famiglietti, senior water scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California and principal investigator of the University of California Irvine-led studies.

Of course, the California drought makes matters much worse, as it’s being reported that 60% of current water use there comes from aquifers – and that rate is expected to increase by the end of the year.

Read more from the Washington Post and see the  NASA satellite data for yourself.

Do you know that RainBank is a RWC leader in the Pacific Northwest? To learn more about Rainwater Collection Systems, you can also visit ARCSA (American Rainwater Catchment Systems Association).

Infrastructure, Rainwater Catchment, Sustainability

Rainwater Harvesting in Urban Areas

brooklyn-street-art-626255_640With so many citizens living in urban areas, cities must approach rainwater harvesting differently than in rural areas, where rain is absorbed into the ground or evaporates.

When it rains in an urban area, rainwater becomes runoff via streets, rooftops and parking lots. Runoff is captured in drains from which it travels via the sewer system, eventually winding up in a lake, creek, or other body of water. Since stormwater is typically released without any pollution management, it can become contaminated with bacteria, heavy metals, nutrients and particulates. So, in the city, water that replenishes our aquifers may have become tainted.

According to Jennifer Drake, Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering at University of Toronto, “Under natural conditions, aquifers are sustained through the infiltration of clean rainwater and streamwater into the ground. But for urban environments, these sources are cut off by the impervious landscapes. Instead, water from leaky sewers, water mains, septic tanks and landscape irrigation becomes the source for groundwater recharge. Since many of these sources are wastewater, they’re poor-quality sources and can lead to groundwater contamination.”

Low Impact Development (LID) includes stormwater management tecniques that allow urban runoff to seep into the ground and evapotranspire into the air. Sustainability systems are built into green roofs (like rooftop gardens), rain gardens (on ground level), which allow stormwater to soak directly into the earth and runoff is naturally filtered by soil as it goes back into the ground and replenishes aquifers.

Read more about Stormwater innovations mean cities don’t just flush rainwater down the drain. The article was also republished via ARCSA.