Big Box Stores Embrace Rainwater Harvesting

CONDENSATION COLLECTION TANKS – HOME DEPOT LOCATIONS WORLDWIDEIn the June ARCSA newsletter, Dr. Hari J. Krishna, ARCSA Founder & Past President, Austin, Texas writes:

“My mission for the past 25 years has been to help people become aware of the benefits of rainwater harvesting, and to make the technique as popular a practice as possible. It is with that intent that I founded ARCSA and have been pleased with all the progress we have made, thanks to the efforts of many others who have followed me at ARCSA and contributed greatly over the years.

In 2010, I met with managers of several local big box stores such as Home Depot, Lowe’s and Sam’s to encourage them to start selling rain barrels. Most of them did not know what I was talking about, so it was more of an educational process to make them aware, but it still did not yield the desired results. I was told that there was plenty of city water available, and that there was no need to collect rain water. Then shortly thereafter, we got hit with a crippling multi-year drought in Texas, and when water restrictions were imposed, folks began recognizing the value of rainwater. So ironically, the drought helped bring rainwater harvesting into focus. I see a sharp increase in big box stores selling rain barrels. “

Read more about rainwater news from ARCSA here.

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.