Category Archives: Rainwater Harvesting Education

Rainwater Catchment, Rainwater Harvesting Education

Water and Sustainable Development

UN World Water Day logoOn World Water Day 2015, ARCSA, as well as dozens of other organizations, stepped up to encourage the use of rainwater collection as a vital tool in efforts to deal with local and global water-related issues existing today. According to ARCSA, “Rainwater provides numerous benefits: 

  • Rainwater is a valuable resource that is underutilized.  Its harvest and use can alleviate challenges related to water resources, potable, non-potable, and stormwater, and energy for pumping water. 
  • Local rainwater harvesting solutions enhance water security and provide important relief to households and communities. All around the world, rainwater infiltration, and collection, storage and use offer benefits for the environment, wildlife and humans, e.g. improved water quality and availability for urban areas, industry and agriculture. 
  • It is time for rainwater catchment to be included in the development plans of all governmental agencies as part of their integrated watershed management strategies. 
  • Introduction of the concept of rainwater management – maximizing rain’s benefits as a vital resource while minimizing potential rain hazards – to curricula of technical schools and universities will bring future benefits to urban planning, architectural and agricultural projects.”

The United Nations has designated March 22 as World Water Day, celebrated annually, and this year the focus topic was Sustainable Development and how water links to all areas – health, nature, urbanization, industry, energy, development and food.  See more below:

In conjunction with World Water Day, the UN releases its comprehensive annual report – the World Water Development Report, which addresses world water issues and promotes sustainability.

Click here to download the full report, which offers several anecdotes and case studies of how rainwater harvesting is being used worldwide to mitigate the effects of over population, aging infrastructure, drought and stretched resources.

Rainwater Harvesting Education, Residential Rainwater Collection

An Early and Long Pollen Season

pollenPollen season is just around the corner for us here in Washington State. With the warmer than normal temperatures, we will most likely see an early and long pollen season.

Pollen is a nemesis of rainwater collection and needs to be controlled. Without control, pollen can easily foul our stored water.

As pollen accumulates in cisterns in the spring and summer months, it starts to decay and along with that decay – odor is the result. Simple techniques should be applied in order to keep our stored water “sweet”.

Gutter screens should be cleaned often, as pollen accumulates on the screens themselves with the rain washing the pollen into the gutters and into the cisterns.

Vortex filters screen should be periodically inspected and cleaned as needed. If you do not have a vortex filter, I highly recommend having one installed.

If you use screen baskets in a sump box or the cistern itself, a layer of cheesecloth will catch the pollen before it enters the tank. The cheesecloth should be inspected frequently and replaced as needed.

Keep your stored water clean and odor free with a little extra maintenance during this pollen season. You will be glad you did.

A false color electron microscope scan of pollen. Credit: Dartmouth College/Charles Daghlian

Rainwater Harvesting Education

What is Your Water Footprint?

drop-of-water-361104_1280According to National Geographic, the average American lifestyle is kept afloat by about 2,000 gallons of H2O a day—twice the global average.

Have you ever calculated your water footprint? Do you know how much water you use?  Do you know how much it costs in dollars? Do you know that how much water you use and how you use it impacts the environment?  In a recent article by Scott Tong, the author surveyed folks to see how much water they estimate the average person/family uses per day.  Then he measured how much water his family of five uses. The results were a surprising.

There are also hidden ways we use water that we don’t always take into account.  As reported by National Geographic, nearly 95 percent of your water footprint is hidden in the food you eat, energy you use, products you buy, and services you rely on. 

If you want to calculate your water footprint and learn ways to save water in your household, click here for the Water Footprint Calculator from National Geographic.