Three Reasons To Sign Up For A Free Rain Barrel
Can a plastic tub save New York City? The humble rain barrel has a lot to offer — helping residents cut their water bills, keeping raw sewage out of local waterways, and cutting the city’s water consumption.
You can have your very own rain barrel for free by signing up now with the office of Assemblymember James Brennan. The barrels will be distributed in our area on June 5th. They are provided by the City, with the assistance of the Flatbush Development Corporation and Assemblymember Brennan’s office.
Managing rainfall more effectively has become a growing focus for New York City. The City’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has been distributing rain barrels free of charge since 2008 — over five thousand barrels went to building and homeowners, schools, and community gardens across the five boroughs in the last year alone.
The 60-gallon barrels connect directly to a property owner’s downspout in order to capture and store stormwater that falls on the rooftop.
Rain barrels will be distributed in our area on Sunday June 5th, from 10am to 2pm, at 1020 Cortelyou Road (and Stratford Road).
Make sure you sign up in advance — call Assemblymember Brennan’s office at (718) 940-0641. Bring a friend and/or a way to transport your new barrel. The barrels are hard to carry for more than a short distance.
Here are three reasons to get a rain barrel for your home or business:
#1 — Save Money
Rain barrels collect water that you can use for tasks like watering lawns and gardens and washing cars. Watering lawns and gardens can account for up to 40 percent of an average household’s water use during the summer months, says the City.
Water rates in New York City have nearly tripled in the last 15 years, a terrific series by WNYC reported last year.
#2 — Help To Control Flooding
As simple as they are, rain barrels are a serious response to a growing problem. If the City’s scientists are correct, we will steadily see more rainfall — and more intense rainfall events — in the five boroughs.
The rain barrel giveaway program is part of the City’s Green Infrastructure Plan that aims to capture stormwater before it causes localized flooding, and before it enters the sewer system.
DEP says it will invest $2.4 billion in green infrastructure projects to absorb rainwater, such as bioswales on city streets, green roofs and rain gardens, as well as other “source controls,” such as rain barrels.
If stormwater enters storm drains too rapidly, it can overwhelm local sewers and sewage treatment plants. When this happens, raw sewage must be released into local waterways via combined sewer overflow points. Billions of gallons of raw sewage and polluted stormwater are discharged annually from over four-hundred combined sewage overflows into New York City’s waterways.
Green infrastructure investments — like rain barrels — will “significantly reduce combined sewer overflows” by 2030, says the City.
# 3 — Water Conservation
Collecting rain water has another goal too– New York City plans to reduce overall water consumption by five percent in advance of a massive drinking water infrastructure project.
The DEP has begun a project to repair leaks in the Delaware Aqueduct which supplies roughly half of the city’s daily drinking water. In order to complete these repairs to the Aqueduct, the tunnel must be temporarily shut down in 2022.
New York City residents, along with hundreds of thousands of suburban residents, consume over a billion gallons of water per day from the City’s water supply system, which is piped from a series of upstate reservoirs north and west of the city.
