Category Archives: Rainwater Harvesting Education

Do You Want to Learn About Rainwater Harvesting?


Close-up of a worn, metallic fountain pen nib on a black surface.
Ken Blair, RainBank, presents an educational seminar at the Seattle Home Show

RainBank’s president, Ken Blair, offers educational rainwater harvesting seminars to schools, community groups, engineering and architectural firms. Do you want to learn about rainwater harvesting?

Your group or organization can learn about laws, codes, and general use of harvested rainwater. Various rainwater collection techniques, methodologies, and components can be covered in RainBank’s seminars. If your school, community organization, landscaping company, architectural or engineering firm wants to learn about rainwater harvesting, Kenwill tailor the presentation to your questions and needs.

Passionate about having a positive impact on the environment and dedicated to helpcreate grassroots solutions for rainwater collection for consumption and agriculture, Ken has more than 10 years of practical application in the Pacific Northwest designing and installing rainwater catchment systems. RainBank has designed and installed 100 potable residential systems in Washington State and is an accredited professional member of ARCSA (American Rainwater Catchment Systems Association).

Ken has taught water conservation and the natural cycle at the elementary school level. Community groups can learn how single family homes can supplement their city water usage, architects are being asked to incorporaterainwater water harvesting in residential home designs and engineers are including systems for commercial applications.Ken Blair has been a speaker at the ARCSA convention in Portland, Oregon and has been mentioned or quoted in articles from Net Zero, Commercial Builders Magazine, and was highlighted in ARCSA Accredited Professional (AP) Profiles. Photos of RainBank’s water tank installations are featured on Washington State Department of Ecology website (look for slideshow in right hand column).

Ken’s experience, insight and ongoing education can assist your group, company or organization in making informed decisions about rainwater harvesting.

Would you like to invite Ken to conduct a seminar for your group? Please complete the form below.

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What is a First-Flush Diverter?


This post is part of the series How to Build a Simple Rainwater Collection System.

A rain barrel system attached to a house downspout for water collection.A first-flush diverter helps keep your rainwater harvesting system clean byenabling the removal of dust, other debris, and any fecal matterthat collects on your roof and in your guttersbetween rainfalls, so it is flushed out at the verybeginning of the water collection process.

Diagram of a water tank filtration and flow system with ball valve.
Click to view larger version of First Flush Diverter Diagram

Thecleaner your water is as it goes into yoursystem, thecleaner your water will be when you use it. Studieshave shown a tremendous drop in fecal bacterialevels when the roof is flushed before water entersthe tank. Bacteria also like to live in decaying leavesand other organic matter that collects at the bottomof the tank. A first-flush diverter “washes” the roof,so there is less rubbish on the tank’s bottom.

Do you want to see more articles about how to build a simple rainwater harvesting system? Check the “Notify me of new posts by email” button below.

Rainwater Collection Lesson For Orcas Island Students


If you think kids are only into video games, try teaching them about something they really care about – like rainwater harvesting and conservation.

Group of children and an adult near a large black tank outdoors.

RainBank’s Ken Blair and Craig Sanders from Island Irrigation recently spent an entire daywith the students from Orcas Island School K through 6th grade, teaching rainwater collection and conservation. “I don’t know who had more fun – the children or myself. The enthusiasm of the kids kept the pace of the class going from bell to bell”, said Ken.

Close-up of a worn, metallic fountain pen nib on a black surface.Ken taught a little history of rainwater collection, some science on the natural cycle of rain and a bit of math so the children could calculate how much rainwater they could collect from their home roofs. Each class will make rain gauges so they can monitor how much rain is available to fill their storage tank that RainBank installed last year for their garden-to-lunch program. “I think the children took away the need for them to conserve our resources and I am confident that they will go home and teach their parents. It was a great bunch of kids and I look forward to doing more of this”, adds Ken.

Read more about Orcas Island students and their lessons on rainwater collection here.

If you would like for your Seattle area school to participate in this type of learning, complete the form below to send a request to Ken Blair of RainBank Rainwater Catchment Systems.

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