Professional Development, Sustainability

11th Annual ARCSA Conference

beyondthegarden

ARCSA CONFERENCE | November 9-10, 2015
ARCSA/IA EXPO | November 11-12, 2015
Accredited Professional Workshop | November 12-13, 2015

The American Rainwater Catchment Systems Association  (ARCSA) continues to encourage the protection of our planet and our nation’s resources.

ARCSA will be co-hosting this year’s conference with the Irrigation Association. Exhibits, education seminars, and guest speakers will be on hand to answer your questions on rainwater collection practices.

The demand for drinking water will double in the next 40 years. To meet this demand, we need to conserve today. Rainwater collection is one alternative to conserve our water supplies. 50 – 70% of household water is used for non-potable demand. Irrigation, wash down, laundry and toilets can all use filtered rainwater rather than becoming runoff. Potable use can be achieved with proper filtration and disinfection.

Theodore Roosevelt said it best: “The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation increased, and not impaired, in value”

Please join us this year for the national conference and the advancement of water conservation. For more information, and to register, please click here.

Sustainability

Californians Rise to Calls to Cut Water Use

watering-791312_640As reported in the Los Angeles Times, Californians  have risen to calls to cut water use and achieved an overall 29% reduction during May 2015, exceeding Gov. Brown’s mandate that use be cut by 25% statewide.

The state’s hard hitting push to educate residents of the dire need to change habits through sustainable landscaping, upgrading appliances and simply by taking shorter showers, has clearly had a positive effect.

The article reports: ‘The savings are based on data submitted by the more than 400 urban water suppliers, which must meet or exceed specified savings beginning in June or face potential fines. Among those water suppliers that showed significant improvements in the latest round of reporting were the California Water Service-Bakersfield, with a 37% cut; Orange County’s Serrano Water District, with a 43% reduction; and Riverside County’s Lake Hemet Municipal Water District, with a 49% savings.”

Way to go Californians – keep up the good work! Your diligence will be absolutely necessary throughout the summer, but with a few more good months under your belts, continued education and outreach, and by maintaining sustainable living habits, you can make meaningful and long-lasting modifications.

Residential Rainwater Collection

Rainwater Collection in Baring, Outside of Seattle

Baring WAYou don’t get much more rural in King County than Baring, WA. With no community water available, being concerned with the impact of drilling a well, and the desire to have a clean, safe reliable source of water, RainBank’s customer chose rainwater collection for their sole source of water for their remodel.

The job had its challenges, but in the end, this compact 885 square foot cabin is able to collect enough water for whole house, potable demand. Historically, this area’s annual rainfall has been 42.5″ allowing for 23,432 gallons to be collected.

The 9′ wide, 20,000 lb. GVWR, wooden suspension bridge allowed only one tank at a time for crossing. Delivery of start up water due to a summer install required two water trucks to be used, one on each side of the bridge. One truck brought water from Skykomish and transferred water across the bridge to the other, to be delivered to the cisterns to stay below the weight restriction of the bridge. The bridge’s weight restrictions allowed only for a small excavator to be brought across for excavation for tank placement. The home was so close to the Skykomish river, rocks larger than the excavator were encountered and needed to be navigated around for tank location. Our excavation contractor was awesome!

The filtration and pump room below the house was limited in size for the filtration train and, with winter temperatures well below freezing, along with limitations of excavation, it was decided that the sump tank needed to be placed in the small room as well. (See slides of job below.)

All of these concerns were recognized early on in the project by RainBank’s team and challenges were met, resulting in a very clean 10,000-gallon install. Whole house, potable use from rainwater collection will now provide this cabin with safe, clean, reliable water for years to come with no negative impact on the environment.

“Job well done guys” exclaims Ken Blair to his crew.

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Rainwater Systems