More than two dozen Gettysburg Borough residents attended a water barrel assembly workshop Thursday afternoon at the Adams County Agricultural and Natural Resources Center. The 27 participants each went home with barrels capable of holding 60 gallons of rainwater.
“This is free water,” Gettysburg Borough resident John Zaremba commented while installing hose fittings on a barrel. “The house plants do better with rainwater.”
Gettysburg resident Carrie Soliday slips inside a rain barrel to help fellow residents Scott English (left, standing) and John Zaremba secure hose valves at the bottom of the barrel. The trio was among 27 borough residents at a workshop Thursday evening to assemble the barrels to collect rainwater they will use to water residential gardens and keep rainfall from adding to the water processed by the treatment plant and released ultimately to the Chesapeake Bay. (Photo by John Messeder)
Gettysburg Director of Historic and Environmental Preservation Debra English explained the workshop was part of an EPA-mandated outreach program to educate residents on ways to intercept stormwater and prevent it from entering the municipal wastewater treatment system. The barrel kits, including hose fittings, anti-mosquito screening, and a fitting to attach the barrel to residential downspout, were purchased by the Gettysburg Borough Storm Water Authority with money derived from stormwater fees charged to all residents of Gettysburg Borough.
The workshop was presented in partnership with the Adams County Conservation District, which has been offering rain barrel support for some 20 years. The barrels were purchased with money from fees paid to the GBSWA, in compliance with the EPA-mandated MS4 (Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System Program, intended to prevent stormwater from entering municipal wastewater treatment systems.
The workshop is part of an MS4 requirement to provide outreach to municipal residents who are the end users of the MS4 program.
English said community response to the program has been strong; Thursday’s workshop was promoted initially through the borough newsletter, and within days the list had grown to more than 60 participants, including 30 residents on a waiting list to take advantage of any cancellations in the scheduled workshops. The session Thursday comprised 27 borough residents, each of whom was given a kit to assemble and take home.
She explained the MS4 system, of which the rain barrels are part, is intended to help provide flood control, protection of wetlands and other water sources, and conservation of water resources.
The rain barrels represent a Best Management Practice — a step taken to intercept precipitation, keeping it from what English termed “our overtaxed storm drain system,” and using natural filtration to clean the water and slow its movement to, ultimately, the Chesapeake Bay. Water thus recharges our ground water table, reducing the amount of surface flow. Water captured in the 60-gallon reservoirs is then available to water flower and vegetable gardens or lawns.
According to a brochure published by the Adams County Conservation District, a one-tenth-inch rainfall on a 1,000-square-foot roof will fill a 60-gallon rain barrel.
“This is free water,” resident John Zaremba commented as he helped assemble one of the barrels.
He added an additional benefit: “The house plants do better with rainwater.”
“You can pay for the water, or you can collect the water,” said Carrie Soliday, who was assisting Zaremba.
She said she planned to use the water to irrigate her “lovely raised bed (vegetable and flower) garden.”
John Messeder is a freelance reporter and photographer who resides in Cumberland Township. He may be contacted at john@johnmesseder.com
Great article, John! Thanks!