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Rainwater Harvesting Education

Think Rainwater Harvesting System Instead of Traditional Water Management

fernsEvery drop of rainwater is important and we can make smart decisions about where every raindrop goes.

Construction seals off land, making it impermeable, with less rain water getting back into our aquifers. As we consider construction plans, we want to think about low impact development (LID), and as many are now doing, adopt LID in place of traditional water management systems. LID for rainwater harvesting can be practiced in many ways – passive – via a simple rain garden, green roof, and permeable pavements – all of which passively assist in reducing rainwater runoff by redirecting it.

In an active system, you’d divert rainwater from a roof to a storage tank to be reused – possibly for laundry, toilet facilities or even drinking water.  This has commercial and residential application.

Some small systems are easy for do it yourself projects, but if you’re looking to build a complex system, you should always seek the services of an accredited professional.

To learn more about rainwater harvesting and how to build a system, visit Intro to Rainwater Harvesting, an educational webinar presented by ARCSA.

Rainwater Catchment

Safe Drinking Water Act Hits 40th Anniversary Milestone

Glass Of Water With Ice CubesIn December, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency marked the 40th anniversary of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA).

According to the EPA, “SDWA is the main federal law that ensures the quality of Americans’ drinking water. Under SDWA, EPA sets standards for drinking water quality and oversees the states, localities, and water suppliers who implement those standards.”

The act originally was passed by Congress in 1974 to guard public health by regulating the country’s public drinking water supply, including water sources like rivers, lakes, reservoirs, springs, and ground water wells. It sets national standards for drinking water to protect the public against both naturally-occurring and man-made contaminants that may occur. US EPA, states, and water systems then work together to make sure that these standards are met.

The EPA held event at the San Jose Community and Bea Main Learning Center in Coachella Valley, CA to commemorate the SDWA’s 40th anniversary. “Every day more than 38 million Californians rely on clean water for cooking, washing, and bathing,” said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA’s Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest. “We have made incredible progress in improving water quality and are tackling the remaining challenges so that every American will have access to clean drinking water.”

Since close to 300 million people depend on 50,000 community water systems across the country for safe, reliable water every day, it’s important that we acknowledge the importance of this Act, which protects a most vital resource to our citizens.

Click here to read more about SDWA’s 40th anniversary.

“Glass Of Water With Ice Cubes” courtesy of taesmileland / www.freedigitalphotos.net

Professional Development

ARCSA Professional Development for Rainwater Harvesting Professionals – January 2015

arcsa-new-logoRainBank is ARCSA’s Northwest Regional Representative and will share and promote ARCSA’s mission to promote sustainable rainwater harvesting practices to help solve potable, non-potable, stormwater and energy challenges throughout the world.

Here are some upcoming ARCSA education opportunities that would benefit rainwater harvesting industry professionals at varying levels of professional development.  Subscribe to RainBank’s blog (check box below) to receive more notifications, or subscribe directly to ARCSA’s newsletter.