Tag Archives: ARCSA

Rainwater Harvesting Education

South Seattle Community Rainwater Collection Seminar

Ken Blair, presenting in Seattle
Ken Blair presenting in Seattle

An American Rainwater Catchment Systems Association (ARCSA) lifetime member and ARCSA Northwest Regional Representative, RainBank Rainwater Systems is committed to the education and advancement of best practices of rainwater collection in Washington State. RainBank recently was asked to conduct a seminar at South Seattle Community College for the Green Infrastructure Partnership (GrIP) an active group of landscapers, cistern installers, and Seattle Rainwise program contractors.

GrIP Purpose Statement: 

The Green Infrastructure Partnership is a group of nonprofit, government and community-based organizations working with the public to offer solutions to stormwater pollution. Our participants do this through education, technical assistance and incentive programs. Our purpose is to increase networking, collaborating and coordinating opportunities for public engagement. Our goal is to bolster voluntary adoption of green infrastructure as a viable, affordable and effective solution to reduce stormwater runoff polluting Puget Sound. 

The two hour class included design considerations, implementation, components, and maintenance of systems as well as an introduction to new 2016 code and storm water requirements. An active, open discussion with Seattle community attendees followed the presentation with a question and answer period from the more than 30 participants. An ARCSA Accreditation Workshop in the near future was enthusiastically supported by the audience. RainBank will follow up with scheduling and registration information . ARCSA is the leader in education of rainwater collection in the US and Canada with most authorities recognizing ARCSA Accredited Professionals as experts in the field.  

RainBank Rainwater Systems would like to thank all participants of this latest rainwater collection systems seminar and encourage all participants and other interested parties to help bring the next ARCSA Accredited Professional Work shop to Seattle.

Rainwater Catchment, Rainwater Harvesting Education

Reinventing Water Supplies – ARCSA Conference 2016

ARCSA Conference 2016The theme of ARCSA’s 12th annual conference, set for December in Las Vegas, NV, will highlight reinventing water supplies.

The Mission of the American Rainwater Catchment Systems Association is to promote sustainable rainwater harvesting practices to help solve potable, non-potable, stormwater and energy challenges throughout the world.

The conference and expo will be filled with learning and buying opportunities and will be held at the convention center in conjunction with conferences for the Irrigation and Groundwater Associations.

Visit the ARCSA conference registration page for more information.

RainBank’s leader, Ken Blair, is an accredited ARCSA  Professional, Inspector Specialist, Designer / Installer and Life Member, a Pacific Coastal Regional ARCSA representative and advisor to its education committee. Ken is tapped by architects, engineers, government agencies and related professional associations to provide lectures or participate on expert panels to discuss Rainwater Collection Systems design and builds.

RainBank is also the Northwest region distributor for Contain Water Tanks, which are backed with an unmatched 20-year warranty.

Rainwater Catchment

Will Wahkiakum County Be Next?

Possibly anWahkiakumother county in Washington will adopt rainwater harvesting for potable use in single family homes.

As an ARCSA (American Rainwater Catchment Systems Association) Regional representative, part of my job is to educate the public and authorities on the use and benefits of rainwater collection. While many counties have adopted RWC for potable use in single family homes, there are still a few that have not recognized the practice and its benefits.

Recently, I was contacted by a potential customer from Wahkiakum County that would like to collect rainwater for whole household usage. He has water rights to a spring dating back to the early 1900,s, but the water is high in chlorides and irons, and not very desirable. To drill a well would surely produce similar results based on existing wells in the immediate area. The customer would like to build a retirement home in this beautiful area, but is unable to do so since the well test results do not meet the county standards.

I had a nice discussion with the Wahkiakum County Health Department, who seemed to be genuinely interested in the concept. I sent the department numerous case studies as well as links to State Ecology, King County Health, ARCSA, and a host of information on the subject. I think I struck a chord with King County’s acceptance and hope to continue the conversation with them soon.

Has your county adopted RWC for potable use? If not please contact me using the form below.