What People Say

Green Bulider magazine recognized THE ORIGINAL RAINWATER PILLOW as a new earth Saving Innovation. See The full story….

http://www.greenbuildermag.com/files/past_issues/gbm_062008.pdf

Water availability for landscaping continues to be a growing concern for areas where water restrictions can inhibit a homeowner’s ability to maintain a traditional landscape. Last month we talked about designing a drought-resistant garden.  Today we’re focusing on collecting rainwater to use for landscaping and possible domestic water applications inside the home.
Though certainly not a new concept—the rain barrel at the corner of the house fulfilled a basic low-tech water storage need—new materials and technology allow for collection of fairly large amounts of water without a lot of investment.

Your home’s roof is an ideal collector—a large flat sloping surface. You’ll need to remove roof debris with either gutter guard systems or a roof washer system. The latter diverts a set amount of roof debris such as leaves or pine needles to a catchment. Once the reservoir is full the remaining water moves directly to storage.

The most intriguing solution of cistern technology is the Original Rainwater Pillow, which can be installed beneath a crawlspace or under a deck in just about any configuration. Unlike structural cisterns, which can be large, involve a fair amount of construction and may cost a lot to ship, these flexible bladders ship flat and are installed easily by fitting and gluing pipes together.  The bladder fills using gravity alone, and have a 10 gallon per minute pump attached to deliver water to a spigot for use.

See full story

http://www.katahdincedarloghomes.com/071408raincollect

For customers and builders searching out innovative water-conservation tactics, here’s an innovation: the Rainwater Pillow. The pillow — essentially 10×10 rubber bag or bladder — stores up to 1100 gallons of roof-collected rain water and can feed a drip irrigation system, water grass or wash a car among other things. The Rainwater Pillow is designed to be tucked away in a crawlspace under a house but also performs — and is just as obscured — under a deck or porch. The Rainwater Pillow is low maintenance, according to the company (just clean the filter every so often) and leak-free (testing shows it’ll hold water for 5 years.) And, the more you use it the easier it is to keep clean. Rainwater has a sign that shows local officials you’re using stored water during a drought situation. 1100 gallons of water takes you a long way toward being green — and greening your yard or serving green-conscious clients. The water is pumped to your hose at the same rate as an outdoor spigot and there are larger and custom size pillows available.

http://www.hgtvpro.com/hpro/np_editorpicks/article/0,2623,HPRO_26596_5897572,00.html

May issue of Green Builder

Water, water, NOT everywhere … The theme of the May issue is water conservation. Across the nation, water is becoming a big issue, and savvy builders need to know the options they have in order to comply with the mandates that seem to be cropping up all over. One alternative to storing a tank above or below ground is using a water pillow. Through his business, The Original RainwaterPillow, president Jim Harrington sells felxible water storage tanks that can be stowed in a crawl space or beneth a deck. Harrington offers to install his systems at homes in and around Atlanta. For those farther away, he leaves it up to the homeowner or builder. “For anyone who’s done light construction, the systems are fairly easy to install. It’s a matter of gluing and screwing pipes together,” Harrington says.

See the full story.

http://www.greenbuildermag.com/content/view/246/180/

The Greening Of The Garden

Two of the gardens on this year’s garden tour feature The Original Rainwater Pillow. Collected rainwater stores in the Pillows is the primary source for watering these beautiful gardens. Check out the full your details.

http://georgiaperennial.org/events/2008_tour_1/index.htm

Low Impact Living gives the Low Down On Living Green

I  recently saw another solution at a green show here in LA - the Rainwater Pillow, designed by Jim Harrington, a landscape designer in the Atlanta area. It’s basically a big flat rubber bag that allows you to store and then reuse rainwater for landscape purposes. The beauty of the system is that the pillows have capacities ranging from 1,000 up to 40,000 gallons, can be installed as a DIY project on Saturday afternoon , flatten out when not filled, and can be easily located in that unused space in your basement or crawlspace, out of sight but protected. They come with all of the prefilters, pumps, tubing and fittings needed to connect it to your drainage and irrigation systems, and also with a remote control so you can operate the pump from anywhere nearby.

I had some concerns at first. Rodent damage? Check - very strong materials used. How about stagnation / septic issues with the water? Check - very simple process using household bleach deals with that. How about freezing? Check - safe by design down to -30 degrees (except for pump and fittings, which must be protected). Cost? That’s where a little bit of “ouch” creeps in - they are a bit pricey (starting at $2,500 list price, although I’d hope there might be some negotiating room in these difficult economic times). They won’t pay for themselves anytime soon at that price, but if you’re considering graywater systems, cisterns or an army of rain barrels then you’re already thinking of making a substantial investment.

Other folks think they’re pretty swell too - This Old House just listed them as one of the greatest new green products.

http://www.lowimpactliving.com/blog/2008/05/28/water-storage-with-rainwater-pillows/

This Old House recognizes The Original Rainwater Pillow as one of the Greatest New Green Products !

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/photos/0,,20178451_20409302,00.html

Handy Magazine features The Original Rainwater Pillow as a favorite product from The International Builders Show 2008. See complete story.

http://handymanclub.com/FromHandy/Article.aspx?id=31008