Rain, Rain, Don't Go Away

While most of us long for rain-free days, a group of Jefferson residents were wishing for just the opposite on Thursday night, as they made rain barrels to hold water for future use.

The program was presented by the in conjunction with the Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station.

Pat Rector, a county environment and resource management agent with Rutgers, first presented a power point deck on the benefits of rain barrel use.

According to literature provided by Rutgers, a rain barrel can be placed under a gutter downspout to collect rain and water from the roof. It provides two environmental functions:

It harvests rainwater and provides an alternative to using the drinking water supply for gardening;

The overflow from a rain barrel can be directed to an area where rain water infiltrates the ground to help replenish ground water supplies.

Rain barrels also help prevent flooding and pollution in streams, rivers and lakes, according to Rutgers’ literature.

A great deal of rain water can be collected during an average storm, according to Rutgers. In a rain event of 1.25 inches, an 800-square-foot roof will emit about 600 gallons of water.

After the presentation was complete, the fun really began, as participants got down to the job of building their own rain barrels. To attach the nozzle to the barrel, someone from each group had to crawl inside the barrel. After much frivolity and a few words that are inappropriate to print here, participants left with a new rain barrel for their yards.