Among rainwater catchment projects by Washington state's Northwest Water Source are 11,500-gallons of storage on a residence in downtown Seattle, four 2,500-gallon tanks on Lopez Island, and a 30,000-gallon steel tank in Skagit County, Washington. |
"The recent droughts in California, Washington, Georgia and Texas have increased awareness about the impact water shortages can have nationwide," said E.W. "Bob" Boulware, P.E., of Indianapolis, Indiana's Design-Aire Engineering Inc. Boulware was elected ARCSA president at its September national conference in Decatur, Georgia, along with eight other board members – one of whom, vice president Jason Kerrigan, lives and works in both Illinois and Australia. "People want to know what they can do to save water and ARCSA appears to be in the right place at the right time to help."
One of ARCSA's accomplishments this past year was Boulware serving as liaison between ARCSA and the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO). Working with code officials, his committee developed the Green Plumbing Supplement to the next edition of the Uniform Plumbing Code. It now includes design standards for rainwater harvesting systems to allow systems to be approved as an alternative to utility-provided water. In addition, ARCSA conferences and accreditation workshops taught rainwater catchment practices to hundreds across the USA in the past two years.
In a gallery of rainwater harvesting projects nationwide at ARCSA's website are several for Rainwater Management Solutions, of Salem, Virginia, including for institutional use at the Claude Moore Education Complex, Williamson Road Fire Station, and Western Regional Jail in Roanoke, Virginia, and agricultural use in Marshall, Virginia, where rainwater is diverted for irrigation and a sport horse farm via a 35,000 gallon modular storage tank. At the fire station, water that otherwise would runoff as stormwater is diverted from the roof to a 10,000 gallon below-ground tank and, after filtration and treatment with UV light, is used for washing fire trucks, flushing toilets, irrigation and potable water. The jail, where rainwater is used for irrigation and washing inmates' clothes, was the first such facility certified to LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) standards – a third-party certification program developed by the U.S. Green Building Council – due in large part to a catchment system involving four 30,000 gallon tanks. Among ARCSA member residential efforts highlighted are projects in Los Gatos, California; Grand Rapids, Michigan; Montgomery County, Maryland; Austin, Texas; Raleigh, North Carolina, and Sydney, Australia.