Tag Archives: irrigation

Rainwater Catchment, Sustainability

Is Rain Collection a Trend?

garden-617272_640The rise of the rain collectors may sound like a scary Halloween prank, but it’s a trend not to be ignored.

According to a recent article published on Earth911, more and more folks, from millennials to baby boomers, are learning how, and then capturing the rain, to mitigate higher water bills and help in conservation efforts, largely due to drought, but also associated to aging infrastructure.

Do you know that by capturing one inch of rainfall from the roof of a 1,000 square foot home, it means you could save up to 312 gallons of water (or what amounts to almost eight, 40-gallon baths).

If you want to know how much rainwater you might collect from your roof runoff, browse to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) rainfall calculator, which can estimate rainfall in areas from a couple square feet to several square miles.

Rainwater collection isn’t only for the home gardener.

Businesses are using collected rainwater for washing vehicles and toilet flushing facilities. Schools are collecting rainwater for community gardens and new multi-family construction could collect rainwater for potable use for tenants or homeowners.

As rain collection trends, it can create a confusing frontier of information and solicitations.

If you decide to have a system professionally installed, we encourage you to know whether or  not your chosen contractor has the accreditation and experience needed for a properly installed, potable or non-potable system. Visit ARCSA (The American Rainwater Catchment Systems Association) to search for a designer and installer with the knowledge and experience to meet your needs.

Commercial Rainwater Harvesting, Rainwater Catchment, Residential Rainwater Collection

Rainwater Collection Steel Tank Photo Gallery

Laundry Building SeattleWith 15 years of experience in the rainwater collection industry, RainBank has assembled a photo gallery of some of the steel tank installations we’ve completed .

With many builds located in the Seattle area, RainBank also has several projects located in the Pacific Northwest, like Portland, OR, Vashon Island and Lopez Island, in 2014, RainBank also directed a steel tank build in Galveston, Texas for the Sea Scouts.

Please click here to visit the steel tank photo gallery and stay tuned for more photos and videos to come.

Things you should know about RainBank Rainwater Systems:

  • Ken Blair (President) holds the ARCSA AP and Inspector Specialist accreditations and is a Lifetime Member. He is also the ARCSA northwest regional representative
  • RainBank’s Management Team covers a wide range of expertise, including engineering and plumbing
  • RainBank is a full service rainwater systems company – design, installation and consultation
  • RainBank designs systems for potable (whole house use or supplemental) and non-potable for irrigation, toilet flushing and laundry.

Contact us now for more information about how to add rainwater harvesting to your residential or commercial project.

Rainwater Catchment

Stormwater is a Visible Component at Botanical Garden

swamp-lily-474446_640A Florida nonprofit organization has constructed and enacted a sustainable plan to capture rainwater for reuse in irrigation. In the true spirit of “it takes a village”, the Naples Botanical Gardens put together a robust team of professionals to develop its master building plan. According to an article in the Naples (Florida) News, the team included landscape architects, garden professionals, a restoration ecologist and a civil engineer.

Throughout the development, the team addressed the unglamorous topic of stormwater management by bringing it to the forefront and highlighting its importance in managing a sustainable lifestyle.

Stormwater becomes a visible component of the landscape.

“Stormwater isn’t sexy,” says Deputy Director Chad Washburn, pointing out that managing stormwater is vital to the project. “We are in the habit of hiding stormwater runoff, but whether visitors realize it or not, we are showcasing it at Naples Botanical Garden.”

Visitors are greeted in the parking lot by a collection of rain gardens and three “bioswales”. According to Rain Garden Network, a rain garden is a shallow depression that is planted with deep-rooted native plants and grasses. The garden should be positioned near a runoff source like a downspout, driveway or sump pump to capture rainwater runoff and stop the water from reaching the sewer system.

The runoff is captured during the rainy season and saved for reuse during drier times, giving the gardens much needed water to allow species like gumbo-limbo, cypress, leather fern, swamp lilies and palmettos to survive and thrive.