Category Archives: Potable

Infrastructure, Potable

Are Carcinogens In Your Drinking Water?

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sacramento-704723_640If you drink water, you may want to watch this alarming video of an investigative story about carcinogen levels found in the public water system in Sacramento, CA.

“In 2013 and 2014, the City of Sacramento tested a new chemical at its main water treatment plant, and an ABC10 investigation found the substances that formed in the city’s drinking water system as a result, could cause cancer. Testing of the chemical called aluminum chlorohydrate, or ACH, almost immediately sent up warning signs that something was seriously wrong, and even though those red flags continued for an entire year, the city didn’t stop and didn’t warn people about a hazard.”

Click to watch:

Sacramento’s Drinking Water Secret

In 2013 and 2014, the City of Sacramento tested a new chemical at its main water treatment plant, and an ABC10 investigation found the substances that formed in the city’s drinking water system as a result, could cause cancer.

When asked why the findings weren’t reported to the public, a city official replied that as long as they were in compliance, public reporting wasn’t necessary.

Potable, Rainwater Catchment, Rainwater Harvesting Education

Potable Rainwater System in Skagit County

skagit tulipsSkagit County Health and Planning Departments allowed construction of a rainwater collection system as the primary source of water for construction of a new family residence. As many as 5,000 property owners may now have a solution to a well moratorium that has been imposed in the river basins because of instream flow rules.

Chris Webb of Herrera Environmental designed the 10,000 gallon potable system to supply the residence with enough water to support a family of four, year round without another water source. Filtration, along with ultra violet disinfection, will treat the rainwater to a quality standard which surpasses groundwater and most well water. Water samples will be taken and sent to a lab for testing with results shared with the Skagit County Department of Health.

RainBank will work with Skagit County to help set standards for rooftop collection for potable use, with the hopes that the practice will allow property owners in the affected river basins to have a viable source of clean, safe drinking water and be able to develop their properties. Other counties in the Puget Sound region have recognized rainwater collection as a supplementary source to wells, city water, and community water sources and sole source use in conditions that a traditional source is not available.

RainBank Rainwater Systems, with 15 years experience in designing and construction of sustainable, potable rainwater collection systems is committed to educating the public and county officials in the benefits of rainwater collection.

Photo Credit: Abhinaba Basu from Redmond, United States – Skagit Tulip Festival Panorama Uploaded by X-Weinzar

 

Potable, Rainwater Catchment, Sustainability

Community Rainwater Harvesting

Community rainwater harvestingBhagwati Agrawal has been named a 2015 Top 10 CNN Hero. Voting for CNN Hero of the Year takes place through Sunday, November 15. All of this year’s Top 10 CNN Heroes will be honored during, “CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute,” Sunday, December 6, on the global networks on CNN.

When he lost his corporate job, Mr. Agrawal decided he wanted to focus his energy on creating a solution to his homeland’s drinking water crisis. Fresh water was so scarce in his community, it needed to be trucked in.

Click to watch a video showing  how his non profit organization, Sustainable Innovations, built a community rainwater harvesting system which captures rain from rooftops during India’s monsoon season, providing safe, clean drinking water to six villages with more than 10,000 people in India’s driest area.

“In many parts of the world, you never think of water. In other parts, you think of water day and night,” said Agrawal, 70. “My mission is to end water scarcity, not only in India, but globally.”

The rainwater collection system is called Aakash Ganga — Hindi for “River from the Sky” – and consists of a network of rooftops, gutters, pipes and underground reservoirs that collect and store monsoon rains, which fall from July to September. By saving this rainwater, 6 villages have potable water all year long.

Read more at CNN