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The scarcity of rainfall, the prolonged drought and ongoing population surge have central Texans worried about how to remedy the dwindling aquifers of the region. The people of Richard’s Rainwater believe they have a blueprint to solve the problems not only locally but globally.
Since 1994, Richard Heinichen — the innovator and founder of Richard’s Rainwater in Dripping Springs — has been preaching the benefits of rainwater harvesting. Instead of pulling water from the ground, he said there is plenty to be harvested from the skies. Not only is rainwater pure and free from pollutants and manmade contaminants, its collection is affordable and sustainable.
Vic Staffa, who has been with the company since its earliest days, now holds the position of minister of culture. In a recent interview he said, “Harvesting is not just sustainable and carbonneutral, it is net-positive. Thanks to our high-efficiency, near zero-waste filtration, we infuse more into the drinking water system than any other drinking water source out there and hydrate more people with every drop. We source where the most abundant rain falls, so we’re local everywhere – meaning there are fewer emissions involved with shipping it to people who need it.”
That’s good news for people living in a prolonged drought. The company now operates in four states, including Texas, Oregon, Ohio and Mississippi.
While there is no federal law restricting rainwater collection, some states have laws in place that curtail it, but Texas is not one of them. In fact, with the passage of Texas House Bill 3391 in 2011, the state requires rainwater harvesting technology to be incorporated into the design of new state buildings and allows financial institutions to consider making loans for developments using rainwater as their sole source of water.
Does widespread rainwater collection keep area aquifers from recharging? Richard’s Rainwater says no.
“It rains 34 inches per year on average in Austin,” Director of Sustainability Serena Dietrich said. “That equals 177,261,040,000 gallons of rainwater landing in the Austin area. If everyone in Austin drank the 64 ounces a day that is recommended, the population would drink 144,246,175 gallons of water per year. If we supplied water to every Austinite year-round, we would only use 0.08% of the rainwater that hit the Austin area that year. The other 99.2% would continue on like normal to its destination.”
A study published by the Scientific World Journal in 2014 concluded that the amount of rainwater that could potentially be collected by individual homes would have little to no effect on the hydrologic cycle on a macro-level.
Besides collecting rainwater for use in the home, Heinichen began bottling rainwater as a healthier alternative to other waters sourced from groundwater, aquifers or municipal systems. In 2002, Richard’s Rainwater was the first company in the nation to receive licensing for the bottling of rainwater.
“No other drinking water does that,” Heinichen said, “...not mountain springs, not mineral water, not even tap.” Richard’s Rainwater’s quality reports show that their triple-filtered rainwater is 100% free of pollutants, salts, minerals and other natural and man-made contaminants.
Since joining as CEO in 2017, Taylor O’Neil secured approximately $19.5 million in investment capital to expand the company with goals that include expansion, building a zero-energy bottling facility in Austin, reducing their overall carbon footprint, shortening distribution distances to 100 miles or fewer and placing Richard’s Rainwater fountains in stadiums, grocery store and other community venues.
