What happens to the rain after it falls out of the sky? The question might seem childish. but in an area that gets an average rainfall of 38 inches per year (according to worldclimate.com), it's valid.
Betsy Hite, watershed coordinator at the Cornell Cooperative Extension, led a rain barrel making workshop Saturday at the Silver Creek Department of Public Works.
Master Gardeners from the three-month intensive course on all things gardening, helped staff the event and Silver Creek DPW workers were also on hand, supporting rainwater collection.
This ancient technique helps conserve water and reduce the strain on municipal water systems. It's not known exactly how much Hite's efforts will reduce the flow volume at Silver Creek's sewer plant, but there were more than 40 people making rain barrels out of 55-gallon drums and Hite recommends a two-barrel rain collection systems. Each drum helps keep as much water as it can hold out of the sewer and stores it for other uses.
Hite told the workshoppers, "You're the innovators. You guys are the first group." Silver Creek DPW plans to host two more of these workshops over the rainy summer months in an effort to revive this conservation technique.
"This is an old-time thing," Jean Gustafson said. "It's something my grandma did. She did her waterings with collected rain water, cleaned with it, even did her hair with it. It was up on the back porch and we would have to scoop out water with a watering can, but the idea was the same."
The idea is to place the barrel directly under a house's downspout and collect all the water that comes through the rain gutters. Silver Creek DPW came around with hole saws to cut the barrels and Hite showed people how to make a removable screen to keep the mosquitoes out. There is a spout at the bottom for a hose. The pressure of 55 gallons of water can push water through a hundred feet of garden hose, according to Hite.
Petri Baking Products donated the first 34 barrels to the workshop, but there were 45 people registered for the free workshop so Cliffstar helped out on the last-minute delivery of 11 more barrels.
The Master Gardener program is winding to its close. It's members are very involved Chautauqua County's number one business at a community level. Two members are working on the gleaning project at the Rural Ministry and others are working on community gardens in Fredonia, Dunkirk and Jamestown.
People were able to walk away with their very own rain barrel after Hite explained some different options to collect and store rainwater and how to keep it clean and usable. She showed some rain collection systems that are available and lectured about the benefits that rain collection can have.
"You want to use the water. It's a rain-collection device, not a rain-storage device." Most of the parts are inexpensive and available at any hardware store.
"At eight pounds per gallon, a 55-gallon drum of water will weigh 450 pounds so you're going to need a hose to help use it," Hite said.
Hite and the Master Gardeners will conduct a similar class Thursday at the Jamestown Agricultural Center on Turner Road at 9 a.m. Two more classes in Silver Creek's DPW building are scheduled for July and August.
