Rain barrels!

On June 10, we (along with Rutgers Cooperative Extension) held a Build-A-Barrel workshop that was targeted for a community along the Peters Brook in Somerville. The general premise behind the targeted community is that Rutgers (as well as us) are looking to quantify the effect of small best management practices--or BMPs-- (such as rain barrels and rain gardens) on stream flow. We're hoping that these BMPs will reduce the amount of water that reaches the Peters Brook, and in turn, will carry less pollutants to the waterway and reduce erosion due to high volume flows.

So we held the workshop, and about 35 people showed up, many from the targeted community, and 26 barrels were built. Nearly everyone that attended wanted at least one extra barrel, and many people walked by the park and wanted to join if we held another workshop. So, I would say that it was a success!


Here are some more photos from the evening (or visit our photo gallery for the complete collection!):




More information about the stormwater project on our Peters Brook page or you can read some of the press about this event on our News page.

We are planning additional Build-A-Barrel workshops to be held in each of the three Peters Brook communities (Bridgewater, Somerville, and Raritan). We are planning for August 2010. In the meantime, you can learn more about rain barrels!