Rainwater Harvesting Education

Rainwater Collection is Catching On

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SeaScoutBase_Galveston_RainBank_projectBoth commercial and residential rainwater collection customers are expressing more interest than ever before, which is a large part of the reason that RainBank Rainwater Systems has seen a 50% bump in growth over the last year.

Architectural  and engineering firms are including rainwater collection systems in their designs. Cities, and counties throughout the state are beginning to understand the connection between stormwater management and rainwater collection.

Developers are saving money on large water bills with rainwater collection, while complying with he “Green Storm water Infrastructure” (GSI). Green building and low impact development are becoming more popular with the general public.  Residential customers, new construction and retrofits are recognizing the long-term cost savings, water quality, and security of a more decentralized water system. As a whole, the public is becoming more environmentally aware of our environmental impact and are finding ways to make that impact positive.

County and City planners, building departments, and health departments need to have the tools to make proper choices of acceptance, promotion, code and permitting of rainwater collection systems. RainBank’s president, Ken Blair is the American Rainwater Catchment Systems Association’s (ARCSA) Northwest regional representative and can schedule an ARCSA workshop for those civil departments, engineering and architectural firms this summer in Seattle. Interested parties please contact Ken using the contact form, or directly at Ken at RainBank dot info.

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.

Commercial Rainwater Harvesting, Rainwater Catchment

Water Conservation Through Rainwater Collection

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Federal Way Washdown_RainBankLLC_webThe most common use of rainwater collection is for non potable use. Irrigation, water features, wash down, toilet, and laundry are all non potable uses that can have a positive effect on water conservation. A properly designed and installed rainwater collection system will provide enough water to support these desired uses with less impact on our water supply.

Rainwater is essentially free of pollution, so it can be stored without much more than screening. Storage can be underground, above ground, metal, plastic, or fiberglass. If irrigation is the desired use, keep in mind that approximately .623 gallons per sq ft of planting, per week is required for the healthy growth of plants, therefore storage volumes can be a concern in design due to space and costs. Conveyance can be gravity if there is enough head. Head is .4 lbs per foot of elevation. A pressure pump might be necessary to achieve the desired pressure needed. Sediment filtration for a simple irrigation system should be all that is needed to ensure emitters and soaker hoses perform as expected.

Water features such as fountains can recirculate the water being used, so very little storage would be required. Sediment and carbon filtration would be needed to keep pumps and nozzles working properly. A carbon filter would be helpful to keep odor to a minimum.

Wash down facilities can use rainwater collection and save money on their water bills by using rainwater collection as the rinse water. With enough storage, a large fleet can be washed with recycled wash water and rinsed with collected rainwater. Again, sediment and carbon filtration would be the only filtration needed. Wash down of equipment, whether construction or farming, can benefit from rainwater collection.

Toilet and laundry facilities for residential and commercial applications are becoming more popular with new construction. Rather than infiltration, which is mandated, why not use that water. Simple pumping and filtration of stored water is all the treatment needed. A return on investment can be achieved within a few years.

There are a wide range of uses for rainwater collection. With a little bit of imagination you might come up with a use for rainwater collection that could save you money.  

Rainwater Systems