The disastrous
Animas River spill that threatens the water supply in
southwestern Colorado, northwestern New Mexico and
northeastern Arizona reinforces the value of harvesting
rainwater to provide distributed sources of safe water.
Ironically, it is illegal to collect rainwater in Colorado
unless you have a residential well permit and you do not
have access to municipal water. New Mexico and Arizona have
no such restrictions.
A well-designed, installed and maintained rainwater
harvesting system can provide significant amounts of
high-quality water for potable and non-potable, residential
and commercial use. Even in the arid Four Corners area of
this spill, ample water can be harvested. Given this area's
10-inch annual precipitation, a 1,500-square-foot
residential roof could collect over 9,000 gallons annually.
A commercial roof of 100,000 square feet could collect
600,000 gallons annually. Attesting to the quality of
rainwater, former ARCSA board member Jack Holmgreen won a
Gold Medal for his rainwater entry in the 2011 Berkeley
Springs International Water Tasting competition.
There is a long
list of chemicals that includes perchlorate (rocket
fuel), MTBE (an automobile fuel additive), ethylene glycol
(anti-freeze), MEK (solvent) and formaldehyde, for which
there are no EPA drinking-water limits. That 's
right, as unbelievable as it sounds, any amount can be in
your drinking water without exceeding the EPA
Drinking Water standards.
The
Environmental Working Group has identified over 200
contaminants in the nation 's drinking water
for which there are no limits, which is one reason the
ancient practice of collecting, treating and using rainwater
is being revived with modern techniques and materials.
ARCSA will soon publish the nation's first comprehensive
rainwater harvesting manual, is gathering funds to
create a national training program and is soliciting
tax-deductible donations for that effort and general
funding. For more information, please contact:
Heather
Kinkade
ARCSA
Executive Director
512.617.6528
Charlee
Myers
ARCSA
Regional Representative
575.751.6563
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