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.  

Ken Blair
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.