Reader Profile: E. W. Bob Boulware

Sept. 19, 2016

A  job installing a rainwater catchment system for a Virgin Islands building as a water supply for the fire suppression sprinkler system several years ago set the stage for E. W. Bob Boulware, P.E., to travel the globe promoting rainwater catchment as an alternative water supply. “I had never done anything like that before,” he says. “I thought that was kind of neat.”

So did the American Rainwater Catchment Systems Association (ARCSA), which invited him to present a paper on the experience at its convention. Soon he’d become ARCSA’s national president.

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Boulware is president of Design-Aire Engineering (DAE), an Indianapolis, IN-based company specializing in energy-efficient building mechanical and electrical systems design. DAE provides engineering services for LEED certification and off-grid system design including solar, rainwater harvesting, and gray/black water systems. The company also assists clients in finding funding. Boulware is a member of the Switzerland-based International Rainwater Harvesting Alliance (IRHA) board of directors and board of advisers, offering insight on water and sanitation project implementation in developing countries. Through the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Official’s green technology committee, Boulware was the principal writer of the ARCSA/ASPE/ANSI 63 Rainwater Catchment Design and Installation Standard, helping national and international agencies to introduce rainwater catchment as an alternative water source into plumbing codes.

He also contributed to the 2013 Green Plumbing Supplement and the Uniform Plumbing Code. For both efforts, ARCSA honored Boulware with its Lifetime Achievement Award. Boulware is involved in ReNEWW House, an existing home near the Purdue University campus serving as a research laboratory and sustainable living showcase. Among its attributes is “net zero water;” it relies on rainwater catchment for its water supply and recycles the graywater with a breaking technology graywater treatment system. The end result: 100% of the water used is rainwater, with a 40% wastewater reduction.

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If it seems like Boulware has “written the book” on rainwater catchment, he has: He authored Alternative Water Sources and Wastewater Management (McGraw-Hill), addressing the use of appropriate alternative water sources and wastewater disposal methods where traditional means and methods are nonexistent or inadequate. The United Nations Environmental Program distributes the book in Africa’s drought-stricken areas.

Boulware and other ARCSA members have assisted communities such as Portland, Atlanta, Austin, Tucson, and Seattle to develop legislation allowing rainwater as an alternative water source. “Bit by bit, the word is getting out, either by people wanting to be seen as being ultra-green or by necessity where water quality or volume isn’t what it needs to be,” says Boulware. “That’s common knowledge in California and in most Western states, but we’re starting to see it on the East Coast as well.”

What He Does Day to Day
Boulware spends his days doing everything from designing projects for his company’s clients to touting the benefits of rainwater catchment in speaking engagements worldwide.

What Led Him Into This Line of Work
Boulware says he “grew up around engines and all things mechanical,” starting with working on a neighbor’s hot rod when he was nine years old and moving onto building model airplanes. He has an MBA in finance from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business and a BA in mechanical engineering from Purdue University. After an honorable discharge from the Army in 1971, he was a consulting engineer designing air-conditioning systems before starting his own company in 1983. The Purdue University ROTC Hall of Fame recognized him for his military and civilian accomplishments, including earning the Bronze Star and Combat Infantryman’s Badge in Vietnam and the work he’s done through his company and promoting energy and water issues globally.

What He Likes Best About His Work
Boulware likes the variety that each day in consulting engineering brings. “You get to create reality from your imagination and a blank sheet of paper—it’s fun,” he says. “I continue to be energized by the enthusiasm of people in the rainwater group. They have an element of practicality that appeals to an engineer’s mindset. They want to make things happen, not just rail against the issues and not really have a solution.”

His Biggest Challenge
Finding people “technically trainable with the proper drafting skills” to work for him is Boulware’s greatest challenge.