DNR holds rain barrel workshop
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources is holding an hour-long workshop at noon on June 19 to show Marylanders how to use 55-gallon rain barrels to collect roof water runoff. You can even make them pretty like these ones from a Chicago-area home.
DNR says a 1,000-square-foot house produces more than 630 gallons of runoff during a summer storm. Barrels slow the runoff of the nitrogen-rich water into the streams and Chesapeake Bay.
Cost is $80, which includes a barrel. The registration deadline is June 10. Click here for the registration form. Call 410-260-8715 with questions or e-mail Elena S. Takaki at etakaki@dnr.state.md.us.
(Just one side tip from a farmer I know: If you want a rain barrel but worry about mosquitoes, buy a few goldfish. They can live in the barrel and eat the larvae.)
Photo from the Chicago Tribune
