Right as rain

Collecting water can help conserve supply

Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009

But remember restrictions on watering your lawn? Remember when you couldn't water your garden?

Overflow pollution and freshwater consumption has steadily impacted the habitat in St. Mary's rivers and bays, according to representatives from the St. Mary's River Watershed Association. The association urges area residents to conserve water and view it as a limited resource.

Installing a rain barrel is one way to capture rainwater that runs off the roof of a house or other structure when it rains. It can then be used in dryer times. Restrictions on watering? No problem for those with a rain barrel. In addition, a rain barrel is an easy way to conserve potable water.

To Bob Lewis, executive director at St. Mary's River Watershed Association, rain barrels conserve and they block pollutants from getting into the river and other waterways. He's kept one outside of his house for 18 years.

"The impervious surfaces created by rooftops and roadways cause excessive runoff which ends up carrying pollutants into the Chesapeake Bay and river," Lewis said. Runoff that comes from developments with asphalt is one of the fastest growing sources of pollution for the Potomac River watershed, he said. While rain barrels only hold a limited amount of rainwater — the model provided by SMRWA holds 55 gallons — they keep some water from rushing through polluted areas and ultimately polluting bay waters.

"Once the water is collected you can use it to water plants," Lewis said. "It's acidic, which is good for plants." In St. Mary's County most of the tap water comes from confined aquifers. "The water tends to be quite alkaline; some have a pH as high as 8.5," Lewis said.

He also feels there is a need for concern for the quality of the water in the river. "I'm most concerned with pesticides, pharmaceuticals and heavy metals in the water," Lewis said.

To cut down on the pollution of the rivers and to keep plants healthy, the St. Mary's Watershed Association sold rain barrels of their own at this year's RiverFest on Sept. 27 in Historic St. Mary's City. Don Fletcher of Town Creek and his son, Noah, were persuaded to get one because their friends in Tennessee have one. "I've seen ‘Myth Busters' and they reuse and recycle water so it really works," Noah said. They plan to use the new addition to their house mainly on their garden.

Fred Czarra, who has been with St. Mary's Watershed Association since its inception, owns two rain barrels and has had them for three years.

"They're very useful," Czarra said. "We have a rain barrel in our garden with three very large funnels in the top and use the water from the bottom to water the plans."

Todd Rudolph, a board member on the St. Mary's Watershed Association, also has two rain barrels. "They go a long way, and they're very easy to work with," Rudolph says about the rain barrels. "The biggest hiccup that I had in dealing with them was whether or not I needed it to be up off of the ground so I could get the water out."

Rain barrels, sometimes referred to as rain tanks, typically catch water from rooftops through rain gutters. Barrels from the watershed association can be connected in order to capture overflow from container to container and are made out of blue vinyl.

Some insects, like mosquitoes, breed in the barrels. Many users avoid this by adding a tablespoon of vegetable oil to the water within barrel.

Lewis prefers the use of recycled materials when it comes to rain barrels. "Really, they can be made out of a number of things — some people use old whiskey barrels," he said.

"Why not just use water that's already outside?" Rudolph said. "You'll have it next to your plants and it's great."

To learn more

To learn more or to order your own rain barrel, call 301-737-2903 or e-mail info@stmarysriver.org. For more about the St. Mary's Rive Watershed Association, visit www.smrwa.org.