Tag Archives: ARCSA

Rainwater Harvesting Education, Sustainability

Standards Set for Stormwater Collection

a-small-waterfall-143194_640 Standards. They are the benchmarks we use to help us make decisions about the food we eat, the cars we purchase, the schools we choose and the water we use.

The American Rainwater Catchment Systems Association (ARCSA) and the American Society of Plumbing Engineers (ASPE) have jointly developed a Stormwater Harvesting Standard, which received American National Standards (ANSI) approval.

This new standard offers direction on how to safely apply stormwater collection for direct end-use applications.

“The American Society of Plumbing Engineers (ASPE) is pleased to announce that ARCSA/ASPE/ANSI 78-2015: Stormwater Harvesting System Design for Direct End-Use Applications was approved as an American National Standard by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) on August 3, 2015”

The standard is set to offer a secure alternate to utility-provided water and to elevate stormwater use to decrease reliance on the aging infrastructure afflicting many municipal water systems.

“Use of the standard will ensure that consumers are not at risk from poor design, installation, maintenance, or illegal work and that the stormwater catchment system will assist in maintaining and enhancing the quality of the environment while assisting compliance with the intent of relevant regulations and government officials.”

Read more about the standard here.

RainBank is proud to be a lifetime member of ARCSA and applauds its ongoing efforts to set and maintain standards for rainwater harvesting.

Professional Development

Continuing Ed For Rainwater Pros in Vancouver WA

arcsaDo you know that rainwater harvesting professionals can get their nerd on through educational opportunities, brought to us by the American Rainwater Catchment Systems Association (ARCSA)?

ARCSA’s mission is “to promote sustainable rainwater harvesting practices to help solve potable, non-potable, stormwater and energy challenges throughout the world.”

In addition to informative articles and other information about rainwater collection, ARCSA offers training and development opportunities for RWC professionals to achieve industry accreditation.

ARCSA and Washington State University Extension and Clark County are offering a comprehensive Rainwater Catchment Accredited Professional training course (please click to register), on August 21 & 22, 2015 at the Heritage Farm in Vancouver, Washington.

According to ARCSA’s recent email: With the ongoing water crisis in California, and now the Pacific Northwest, this workshop will focus on the Oregon and Washington Issues. Residents of the Pacific Northwest are encouraged to attend to learn to capture stormwater, while creating additional “reservoirs” to store water for future beneficial uses. You can’t use it if you don’t store it.

Be sure to follow ARCSA on Twitter and Facebook for important updates about California and Washington drought conditions, or sign up for their mailing list to receive emails about rainwater harvesting and educational opportunities.

Rainwater Catchment, Rainwater Harvesting Education

When Will Your County Adopt Rainwater Collection for Potable Use? 

LowWaterPuyallupRiver potableSnohomish County has over 1,000 water districts that are close to drying up, which ramps up the need to purchase potable water from the city of Everett.  Spada Lake is dangerously low, which jeopardizes water availability for fighting fires

Pierce County faces a similar issue – small water districts are running out of supply, forcing the potential for needing to purchase water from the city of Tacoma. The Center for Urban Waters, led by the University of Washington Tacoma, promotes rainwater collection, while some of the districts are not fully supportive of the concept.

Is it time for both of these counties to adopt RWC for potable use?

Snohomish County is surrounded by other counties that have expanded RWC to include potable usage. These counties recognize that potable use of rainwater for single-family dwellings is not a threat to public safety or to the revenue of their water districts. King, Skagit, Whatcom, San Juan, Jefferson, and Island counties all accept the benefits of potable RWC for single-family dwellings.

RainBank Rainwater Systems along with support from the American Rainwater Catchment Systems Association (ARCSA) will continue to educate these two counties as well as others by offering seminars, workshops, and general discussion on the benefits of RWC to motivate them to allow potable usage of rainwater.

Please watch the recently aired KIRO News report about small water districts that are running out of water.

Photo courtesy of King.