Member Profile: Bank-On-Rain

Bank-On-Rain is an all volunteer non-profit corporation founded to create grassroot solutions for rainwater collection for consumption and agriculture in developing areas of the planet. Our focus is system design utilizing technology appropriate to the local setting/resources to insure low cost and on-site maintainability. To meet these objectives, our designs incorporate recycling of locally available existing products into usable catchment designs.

As a newly formed organization, Bank-On-Rain has only completed two projects, however we have been funded to install two additional rainwater harvesting systems in schools in Sierra Leone in 2013. We have proposed a design for facilities at the Gashora Girls Academy in Rwanda. We have finished a rainwater collection system for the Barina Agricultural Secondary School in Sierra Leone in August/September of 2011 and a dug well for garden irrigation in 2013. We are exploring other opportunities for demonstration projects in Malawi and Mali. Individuals on the Board of Directors have extensive experience designing and installing rainfall catchment systems in the US, instructing classes in system construction and are ARCSA certified designers/installers.

We have a rainwater harvesting system installation underway in Makali, Sierra Leone and another slated to start later this year for a school in Upper Allen Town, Sierra Leone. These latter 2 projects utilize Interlocking Stabilized Soil Blocks (ISSB) to construct water tanks from locally sourced materials and block manufactured and tanks constructed by trained local labor.

We have an approved proposal awaiting funding for the manufacture of an inexpensive, self-cleaning and low maintenance water tap we have designed specifically for water projects in the developing world, FullStop (tm).

Project reports are available on this web page with addtional information on the Bank On Rain blog (http://bank-on-rain.posterous.com/)

Through design and installation of many commercial and residential rainfall catchment systems in the US, the founding members of Bank-On-Rain recognized the potential quality of life improvement that could be provided by similar systems in the developing world. Annual precipitation of as little as 25 cm may be sufficient to provide a source of safe drinking water, an amount available in most habitated parts of the globe. We beleive that demonstration projects in schools/communities can empower local residents to duplicate simple, low cost systems using readily avalable materials, thus creating a "ripple effect" independent from outside support. BOR provides us a means to share our experience and expertise to improve health and living conditions in areas with the most need.