About Rain Barrels
A rain barrel is a used to harvest the rain water that drains off your roof to water your plants, flowers and gardens. Rain water that falls onto your roof usually flow through your yard, washes into the street and eventually flows into the storm drainage system. By collecting this water, you are able to use this water to irrigate your plants, flowers and gardens. Rain barrels can also be arranged to slowly release the collected rain fall to areas that can soak up the water, reducing storm water runoff and increasing groundwater recharge.

Why?

• Rain barrels conserve water and help lower costs (a rain barrel can save approximately 1,300 gallons of water during peak summer months).
• Rain barrels reduce water pollution by reducing storm water runoff, which can contain pollutants like sediment, oil, grease, bacteria and nutrients.
• The good news is that rain barrels are inexpensive, easy to install and easy to operate and maintain. Ready-made rain barrels can be purchased from local suppliers or online.

Some Useful Information:

As the water collected in the rain barrel is coming off a roof, into gutters and down downspouts, it is not considered to be "drinkable" or potable water.

Remember, birds and animals are also on the roof. So, water from the roof can contain bacteria and other disease-causing organisms from bird and other animal waste that might be on the roof.

How you use this water in your garden and the type of plants you use it on is an important consideration. Rain barrel water is fine if used to water non - edible plants - like flowers or lawns.

Rain Gardens

Rain gardens are landscaped depressions that receive stormwater runoff and allow the runoff to slowly infiltrate to the groundwater table. They can also be used to deal with flooding problems and low areas. Rain garden slow down the flow of water and hold the water for a short period of time and allow it to naturally infiltrate into the ground. The plants use the excess nutrients for growth, sediment is trapped in the garden and biological processes remove pathogens.

Why:

Rain gardens combine natural physical, chemical and biological processes to remove pollutants from storm water. Because rain gardens utilize native species of plants which require less maintenance, less watering, and less fertilizers and pesticides. Low maintenance saves money! They can even solve some yard flooding problems.

How to:

For more details on Rain Garden and the York County 1,000 Rain Garden Program please go to Clemson University website or City of Rock Hill website.

Yes we said the "P" word.

Why? Not only is it gross but it can contain many harmful microorganisms that can cause diseases. When the poop enters the lakes and rivers they can become contaminated and can make people sick. Also, as the poop degrades it can removes oxygen from the water and can kill marine life. One dog’s poop may not seem like much but imaging the entire neighborhoods dog poop entering your creeks and lakes. Do you want to swim in that???

Did you know that the average dog poops 2 to 3 times a day and approximately 80 % of dog owners don’t properly clean-up after their pets? That’s a lot of poop in the creeks, streams and Lake Wylie.

  The solution is easy!

Pick up the poop and throw it away!