Do you have a rain barrel collecting rainwater? If not, you're in luck. The Brick Township Municipal Utilities Authority (Brick Utilities) and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) are hosting an event to give you everything you need to install a rain barrel on your property. It's free and so is the gear you get.
What's the purpose of a rain barrel? Placed under a gutter’s downspout, a rain barrel collects rain water from the roof. The water can be used for gardens, can help to conserve water, prevent basement flooding, and reduce pollution in local streams, rivers and lakes.
The Virtual Build a Rain Barrel Workshop will be held September 27, 2020 and registered participants will be supplied with a free rain barrel kit, which includes a 55 Gallon barrel with all openings cut out and all hardware to set it up at home.
The kits will be available at the New Jersey Tree Nursery, 370 East Veterans Highway (Route 528), Jackson, NJ, to all registrants the day of the webinar. Barrels are 34 inches tall and 25 inches wide and can be fit in the backseat of most vehicles to be transported home.
Seats for this event are limited, so early registration is recommended to ensure a rain barrel kit. Please contact Shari Kondrup via email at skondrup@brickmua.com or telephone at 732-551- 4460 to register or obtain more information.
The rain barrel project continues NJDEP and Brick Utilities’ efforts to implement the Metedeconk River Watershed Protection and Restoration Plan. Completed in 2013, the plan aims to preserve the Metedeconk River as an important water supply for the region, protect and improve the health of the Barnegat Bay estuary, and address water quality impairments.
The plan identifies stormwater runoff as the main threat to the Metedeconk River. Stormwater picks up pollutants from roads, parking lots, lawns and other areas as it runs off and carries these pollutants to local waterways. The Metedeconk River is a critical water resource for the region. It serves as the primary water supply source for Brick Utilities, which provides drinking water to more than 100,000 area residents in Brick Township, Howell Township, Lakewood Township, Point Pleasant Borough, and Point Pleasant Beach Borough.
The Metedeconk River is also a major source of freshwater inflow to the Barnegat Bay, one of 28 Congressionally-designated estuaries of national significance that are part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Estuary Program.
The Metedeconk River Watershed encompasses roughly 90 square miles in both Monmouth and Ocean Counties. Starting at its headwaters in Freehold, Jackson and Millstone, the river flows eastward through Howell, Lakewood, Wall and Brick Townships before reaching Point Pleasant Borough and the Barnegat Bay. To learn more about the Metedeconk River Watershed, please visit www.metedeconkriver.org.
To learn more about the Barnegat Bay, please visit the Barnegat Bay Partnership: http://bbp.ocean.edu.