Rainwater collection is becoming increasingly popular for commercial and residential consumers in urban settings, driven largely by centralized water unable to meet demands caused by droughts, increased population, along with supply and demand.

Quality of water is threatened by an aging infrastructure and environmental concerns such as the chemical spill in West Virginia last winter.  Awareness and concerns of fluorides and chlorine in municipal water supplies are adding to the interest of alternate solutions.

Increased costs to meet storm water management and GSI (green storm water infrastructure ) requirements for new construction of commercial and residential projects are driving owners, designers, engineers, and architects to offset some of the costs involved with implementation.

In a recent report by “the National Resources Defense Council” eight cities were studied for potential economic impact of rainwater collection. It is estimated the residents of these cities could save 90 million dollars each year by adopting simple rainwater harvesting techniques.

Water closet and laundry facilities using rainwater collection are now becoming integrated into designs for both commercial and residential application.  According to the American Water Works Association, water closets account for approximately 51% of water usage in commercial buildings and approximately 50 % water usage for water closet and laundry facilities in residential applications.

Ken Blair

President at RainBank Rainwater Systems

A rainwater collection systems designer and consultant, Ken has designed and installed residential and commercial systems, primarily in the northwest United States for more than 10 years and, in 2014, began consulting and managing builds in other states. Ken is an accredited ARCSA Professional Designer / Installer and Life Member, the Northwest Regional ARCSA representative and advisor to its education committee and is available to speak about Rainwater Collection Systems design and builds.

Ken is a United States Navy veteran, having served on active duty during the Vietnam War era.

A career entrepreneur, Ken created a new business focus with a commercial dive company in Hawaii in the mid 1980′s to respond to and clean up oil spills, oil spill equipment training, service and maintenance for the oil co-op service industry. Ken is passionate about having a positive impact on the environment and is also a founding director of BANK-ON-RAIN (2011-2014), whose mission is to create grassroots solutions for rainwater collection for consumption and agriculture in developing areas of the planet.