Mark Armfield receiving a $150,000 donation from Carl Daikeler.

August 31, 2010. RainCatcher and Beachbody join forces to bring rainwater harvesting systems to ten schools in Kenya / Uganda and our clean-water filter systems to over 100,000 people. More stories soon.

To lean about Carl & Beachbody visit  http://carldaikeler.blogspot.com and read his August 30 post.

New video by Jarrod Holbrook – Now showing on CNN: http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2010/07/14/holbrooke.haiti.water.filter.cnn?iref=allsearch

and a more in-depth version appearing on Vanity Fair:

http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2010/07/sean-penn-makes-waves-in-haiti.html

+

Waves for Water story in OC Register:

http://beach.freedomblogging.com/2010/08/17/hurley-teams-up-with-waves-4-water/26907/

As a result of donated funds, RainCatchers are now bringing clean water to four schools in remote regions of Western Kenya. With gratitude I would like to acknowledge the contribution of Mr. Shigeo Ohmori and Mr. Kokichi Nakata from the Youth Summit for the Environment — Kobe, Japan – and Mr. Haysbert for donating time, talent & resources to this cause.

Because of Mr. Ohmori’s, Mr. Nakata’s and Mr. Haysbert’s sponsorship of our rainwater harvesting projects in Africa, thousands of students are now benefiting from having their own source of clean drinking water for years to come. Thank you, Jack Rose

August, 2009 – Reporter Jarrod Holbrook and RainCatcher Fred Mango document the installation of rainwater harvesting systems on rural schools across Kenya.

CREDITS

the RainCatcher story

narration – Dennis Haysbert . . . . . . . .cinematography – Jarrod Holbrook

schools in Kenya – Fred Mango . . . . . . . . . . . .music - Wabake by  Samite

editing – Zak Hudson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . sound  - Tom Evoniuk

writer + stills  -  Jack Rose

RainCatcher . . . a father & son story . . . Waves for Water.

Jon Rose is currently traveling & working with the U.N. & Sean Penn’s team in Haiti - www.jphro.org Can read Jon’s daily updates from the front lines at www.wavesforwater.org. So far, Jack & Jon have distributed 9000 clean water systems throughout the earthquake zone, and in remote regions of the country, bringing safe drinking water to over a hundred thousand people.

All of us would like to extend a special acknowledgement to Dennis Haysbert, Sean Penn, Diana Jenkins, Patricia Arquette and employees of Patagonia for their extensive donations of time, talent & funds. Together we will continue to bring our clean drinking water systems to the survivors in Haiti.

If you want to help us just push the donate button or send a check, payable to; RainCatcher, inc. and mailed to 28990 Pacific Coast Hwy  109-B Malibu, California  90265

To those who have already helped fund our relief efforts – “Thank you, thank you, thank you”.

Yours in friendship, Jack Rose

How does the RainCatcher water filter work?

Watch the 1 minute video by Jarrod Holbrook - filmed at a school in Western Kenya.

A RainCatcher is a simple, ingenious arrangement of gutters, tanks and filters placed on schools in remote places so students can enjoy their own source of clean drinking water. To bring what we do in Africa to the rest of the world, Jon Rose created wavesforwater.org

RAINCATCHER, INC. – a California Non-Profit Corporation. Federal tax exempt status under section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code . . .  # 26-4310008

]]> http://www.raincatcher.org/2010/01/waves-for-water/feed/ 0 http://www.raincatcher.org/2010/01/anywhere-everywhere/ http://www.raincatcher.org/2010/01/anywhere-everywhere/#comments Wed, 06 Jan 2010 16:47:50 +0000 Jack http://www.raincatcher.org/?p=740 CLEAN WATER NOW   by   Jon Rose

In any situation, anywhere around the world, clean, safe drinking water is always at hand – once you have the right tools:  1 – a ‘Just Water’ Ceramic Drip filter . . .  2 – two stackable buckets with lids . . .  3 – a sharp knife or drill . . .  4 – and one tap.      Three minute video:

For detailed step-by-step instructions:

www.raincatcher.org/2009/05/water-filter-instructions

To carry a few of these in your luggage to anywhere and everywhere, contact   jack@raincatcher.org

to fellow cast & crew members of the TV show The UNIT:

“A new rainwater harvesting system (tanks, gutters & filters) will be installed on several schools in Kenya in our name – The cast & crew of ‘THE UNIT’. As a result of this gift thousands of students will benefit from having their own source of clean drinking water for years to come. I am happy to make this happen with you, Snake Doctor” - Christmas 2008

Click on photo to enlarge, then click again to see full size.

Fast forward to May, 2009: Spring rains bring overflowing water supply to the five ‘UNIT’ RainCatcher Schools in rural Western Kenya. Many teachers, student & parents, along with everyone at RainCatcher, would like to to express our gratitude to Mr. Haysbert and the entire cast & crew of the UNIT for your contribution. Special acknowledgement goes to Fred Mango of RainCatcher Kenya – the one who gets the job done.

Above are images of the Family Portable RainCatcher . . . Click on photo to enlarge

These images are meant to illustrate just how easy it is to catch rain: String up a plastic tarp with ropes from trees or buildings and channel the rain water down to a waiting container. Here we use a clean 30 gallon plastic trash can. Photos are from a backyard and St. Martin of Tours school in Los Angeles. Students are learning how to catch and clean rainwater with Father Kizito, visiting from Uganda.

People all around the world can use this demonstration as a starting point in the effort to provide clean drinking water for families. Please send us photos & stories of your variations on the theme: “Available materials / possible ideas” in tackling the problem of finding & creating new sources of safe drinking water.  jack@raincatcher.org

Special thanks to Greg & Wendy Lynch; and Marija Newsom. As a result  of their contributions of time, talent & funds, many families in Uganda are receiving our clean water filter systems.

Click on photo to enlarge, then click again to see full size.

Wendy Lynch, Father Kizito and Mark Armfield working together with many volunteers and sponsors to bring RainCatchers to 30 schools in Uganda.

As a result of our collaborations the RainCatcher Uganda project is well under way.

Special thanks from thousands of students, teachers & parents to Danielle Light, Lucas Donat, eHarmony & Hotwire for bringing the gift of clean water.

Our goal is a RainCatcher on every school in Uganda.

From YouTube:     Rain Water

The film brings a simple message: rainwater belongs to each of us – why don’t we collect and share it?

Website mentioned at end of video: Rainwaterharvesting.org.

In this video, HUB (Humanity Unites Brilliance) founder Charlie Stuart Gay and Feed the Children founder Larry Jones discuss HUB’s RainCatcher installations in Africa with Fred Mango of RainCatcher Kenya.

The simplest way to catch, store and deliver clean drinking water is through with a RainCatchrer.  Along with impact partner, Raincatcher.org, HUB has installed raincatchers in schools in Africa and also supports efforts to dig water wells.

Unregulated irrigation along the shores of Lake Victoria in Africa has drastically lowered the availability of clean water. Women and children  become critically ill through lack of water or usage of dirty water.

With the support of impact partners like Raincatcher.org, HUB has installed many RainCatcher water tanks at rural school sites, with guttering on the roofs and water filters.  http://www.monolithic.com/stories/a-practical-life-sustaining-water-filter 

Now children and their families can have clean water for drinking, washing and gardening.

Casting Call: Local Malibu parents & teachers. With our next RainCatcher video we are creating a link between students in America and their counterparts in Africa. We need two voices – a boy and a girl – to participate in a ‘What if’ dialogue www.raincatcher.org/category/get-involved. This will be a voice-over narration. Looking for middle-school students. Click the VIDEO button above to view a half dozen samples of our RainCatcher videos.

contact:   jack@raincatcher.org

FEATURING THE SOUNDS OF:

PETER DISTEFANO – of Porno for pyros

with ANDY TROY& KELLII SCOTT

~~~HUMANLAB ~~~

and a Special Acoustic Set from TIMMY CURREN

+DJ SLI-DAWG

“It’s a bridge to the future”.

Thousands of children die each day from drinking bad water.

We are attempting to remedy this by setting up RainCatchers at every school in Africa.

I grew up in a country where visionary leaders worked with engineers and builders to provide clean water for everyone.

It only makes sense that we do for others what was done for us.

We have the talent and resources to solve the ‘World Water Shortage’. What we lack are any excuses not to do this now.

Instructions: Find two stackable buckets, with two lids.

Step 1 – Drilling: Drill or cut a 5/8″ hole in the bottom of the upper bucket. Drill or cut another hole on the side of the lower bucket, close to the bottom. Drill or cut a final hole in the middle of one of the lids. Three holes total will need to be made.

Step 2 – Tap Assembly: Place rubber washer on the tap and guide it through hole on side of lower bucket. Place second washer on the tap threads inside the bucket and screw on the wing nut snugly, but don’t over tighten.

Step 3 – Filter Assembly: Place rubber washer on the threads of the ceramic filter. Place the filter inside the upper bucket and guide the threads through the hole in the bottom. Place second washer on the threads and and screw on the wing nut snugly, but don’t over tighten.

Step 4 – Final Assembly: Place the lid with the hole in the center on top of the lower bucket (the one with the tap). Next place the upper bucket on top of the lower bucket, and guide the filter nozzle through the hole in the lid on the lower bucket.

Step 5 – Just Add Water: Fill the upper bucket with water from the cleanest source available: Rainwater, well-water, river, stream or pond.

The first five gallons will take a few hours to slowly filter down into the lower bucket. An endless supply of clean, safe drinking water is now available. Enjoy. As the clean water level goes down, keep adding water to the top bucket. this way your supply will never run out.

Included with each filter is a cotton pre-filter sock that fits over the ceramic filter if the source water is muddy.  See more stories and instructions in the ‘Water Filter’ category and in the ‘Links’ column titled ‘Just Water’ Filters.

‘Water for Everyone’ . . . ‘What if’ dialogue between two students

by  Jack Rose

What if the only water we had to drink came out of the L.A. River?

Or Malibu Creek? or any creek?

What if we lived In Africa and had to walk for hours everyday just to bring water from muddy streams back to our house?

What if we got typhoid or cholera. . . or dysentery?

What if 5 million of us died this year from drinking bad water?

Every year!

What if someone decided this was unacceptable?

What if we started to catch the rain that fell on our school house?

And channeled it through gutters.

And stored it in giant water tanks?

And then during recess, instead of walking a mile or two down the canyon to get a drink from that funky stream. . .

We just opened the tap on the filter bucket inside our classroom and took a big gulp of the best water we’ve ever tasted.

What if all the thirsty kids around the world could do this?

It isn’t rocket science, is it?

But NASA wants billions of dollars to look for water on Mars.

What if the $20 million spent on one military tank was used to buy 20 thousand water tanks?

Then all the thirsty kids around the world would have fresh rainwater to drink instead of the contaminated stuff.

What if we could make that happen?

We can. My friends and I are helping the RainCatcher project right now in Africa.

How?

It’s easy. The people there really want clean water to drink, but they don’t have the right rain catching tools.

Water tanks – rain gutters – filters. It’s just a matter of hardware.

Yeah – so the RainCatcher project is launching the Global Hardware Store.

We are helping to buy and deliver the supplies, and getting the RainCatchers set up, and before you know it, an entire village is drinking the good stuff.

What if everyone could do this?

We’re working on that.

The goal of RainCatcher is ‘Water for Everyone’

I’ll drink to that.

The Hippo Water Roller

Can see Peter Macomber’s  The Hippo Roller video at   www.serumlab.com

www.metaefficient.com has story about the Hippo Water Roller:

Rain ‘n Roll – The Hippo Water Roller

The HippoRoller is a heavy-duty plastic drum that can be filled upright, then sealed and rolled like a steamroller across rough terrain. The 24-gallon (90L) tank weighs 200 pounds when full, but the rolling drum has a functional weight of just 22 pounds, so virtually anyone can use it. The current design has been tweaked to ease shipping and transportation of the carriers, which are manufactured in Johannesburg, South Africa. They are distributed mainly by local NGOs to communities throughout southern Africa, along with training on water purification and sanitation.

A single HippoRoller can hold a day’s water for an entire family of five. Great potential here to work with RainCatcher systems to help people transport water more easily and efficiently from a central location in a village out to individul homes. And what an improvement to go…

...from this...

...to this! (All photos: HippoRoller.org)

Another simple solution to the water problem: Rain ‘n Roll.

For more information, visit the HippoRoller website at  www.HippoRoller.org.

Mark Armfield is the owner of Armfield Design & Construction, Malibu, California.

MALIBU, California. As a boy on a bike, standing at the edge of  Point Dume, gazing towards the blue horizon, Mark realized there was nowhere else to go — “This is it”. Right then he made a vow to love this land and to protect its beauty, and to one day give something back.

Fast forward a few decades and that day is now. After 25 years of working to bring environmental awareness to the construction industry, Mark takes pride in bringing to fruition only those projects that combine extreme beauty and optimum efficiency.

In the push to be environmentally responsible Mark has never forgotten about the very human need for beauty and serenity. The home as sanctuary: This is what the builder tries to create and how the family man tries to live.

Along with many environmentally advanced Malibu homes, Mark’s body of work includes:

• President – Malibu Association of Contractors
• Director of Malibu Chamber of Commerce
• Chairman – Government Affairs / City of Malibu
• Member – Malibu City Business Roundtable
• Member – City of Malibu Sustainable Building Committee

As a surfer and a builder, Mark gradually became aware of our impact on the quality of the ocean. He has committed himself to learning about what hurts the ocean and what can save the ocean from further harm.

RainCatcher

Beginning at the shore, Mark eventually started looking upstream. This lead him to the sky, to RainCatcher, to Jack Rose. Mark and Jack are studying the effects of the vast runoff from rainfall, through our cities, to the ocean.  Together, right here in Malibu, they are designing prototypes for residential rainwater harvesting and storm-water management. This work is their contribution to future generations of Californians.

California RainCatcher houses will collect and store tens of thousands of gallons of fresh rainwater each year during the rainy season and then use this precious resource for landscaping during the long dry season. By the middle of the century, the fulfillment of this design will cut in half the amount of water Southern California must import every year. See photos of completed
projects in the Central Coast region of California by a landscape design company called Earthcraft Landscape Design.

This is a big, slow process that will yield great dividends a half century from now for everyone in California. But many places in the world need the water from RainCatchers right now, so: In conjunction with their local projects, Mark and Jack are bringing the same rain catching technologies to places like Africa and India so that millions of people worldwide will benefit today by not having to suffer and die from water borne diseases.

From the same Point Dume office where they imagine and construct beautiful and brilliant Malibu homes, Mark and Jack create RainCatchers for schoolhouses in Africa. Current projects include two UN Farm Schools for 700 AIDS orphans in Western Kenya.

Jack Rose, founder of RainCatcher.

Jack Rose, Raincatcher: I grew up along the coast of California with a mountain range, the Sierra Nevada, in my back yard — surfing, climbing, skiing — Living in a place where every year, like clockwork, moisture would float in from the Pacific, hit the Sierra, and drop an abundance of rain and snow. These same mountains would later provide the RainCatcher model for my current work.

If I had to give myself a job description it would be: inventor/explorer/friend.

Jack Rose Design Studio — I design interesting houses in all the hideaway places up and down California. Having grown up in a dry climate, rain falling has always been alluring for me. While living on the north shore of Kauai I began catching and drinking rain. It was the best thing I had ever tasted. A couple years later, while living on the rainy Mendocino coast, I continued catching an abundance of delicious rain. So, one day, while enjoying a glass of water-from-heaven I suddenly realized that over a billion people around the world couldn’t participate in this daily ritual that I take for granted. As a designer I gave myself the challenge to come up with a simple, cheap way for all who are chronically thirsty to receive clean, safe drinking water direct from the sky. RainCatcher was born. The purpose and goal:  H2O 4 Every 1.

Reversal-of-fortune

The value of rain received, rather than rejected, is immeasurable.

Architecture, up until now, is based on the premise that “Water is the enemy” — we must shed it and get rid of it as fast as possible. Residential, commercial, industrial and municipal architects and planners all adhere to this belief.

At the same time, modern culture has been relentless in promoting this attitude. Turn to the weather on radio or TV and we are constantly told: “It’s going to be a bad day”. . . because there’s a chance of rain. And if it isn’t a bad day here we are shown all the places where it is going to be ‘miserable’, because of rain — Boston, Pittsburgh, Des Moines, you name it.

Generations have been taught to fear nature, to loathe the rain, to complain each time the garden gets watered. None of this rings true. As children we loved the rain. When we weren’t inside playing board games and making forts we were outside discovering new lakes where bean fields used to be — building Tom Sawyer rafts and having big adventures.

A primary purpose of RainCatcher is to sing praise and gratitude for weather — to instigate an attitude shift from “rain is bad, let’s get rid of it” to “rain is a blessing, let’s catch it and treasure it.” When enough of us do this, countless people around the world will experience a Reversal-of-Fortune.  Water is as precious a resource as oil. Instead of tossing it aside, one day we will collect it from the roofs of every home and business structure and put it to good use.

As everyone in Africa knows,  “WATER IS LIFE”. .  .

The purpose and goal of RainCatcher is:  H2O 4 Every 1

Jack Rose and Mark Armfield