Rainwater harvesting
North Huron: Rainbarrel Study
Insurance Bureau of Canada / June 2011
Rain barrels can have a big impact on dealing with excess water, especially when a whole community comes together to use them.
In 2009, IBC equipped every household in the town of Wingham, Ontario, with a rain barrel to test the effectiveness of rain barrels in protecting communities from storm runoff.
The experiment, conducted over a two-year period in partnership with the Township of North Huron, showed that 1,000 households using rain barrels could divert 4.5 million litres of rainwater runoff away from a municipality’s sewer system. Had the barrels been used correctly – that is, emptied after each rain fall – they would have captured 25% of the rain falling on rooftops, preventing this water from entering the sewer system. This proves that the widespread use of rain barrels, when properly emptied, is an effective way for communities to cope with increased precipitation levels.
In the process of installing the barrels, an impressive 72% of Wingham’s downspouts were disconnected from the storm and sanitary sewer system, providing immediate relief.
Montreal: Rolling out the Barrels
Montreal Mirror / Heather Robb / 08 September 2011
In an effort to respond to the effects of climate change, the City of Montreal is planning to roll out the barrel—the rain barrel, that is. This fall, the city will make 1,500 water barrels available—at a reduced rate of approximately $20 each—at Éco-quartiers across the city, with the eventual goal of distributing 6,000 over the next two years.
"The type of rainfalls we're getting in Montreal, particularly during periods of intense heat, are short in duration but very intense, and so they have the tendency to overwhelm our sewer systems," says Alan DeSousa, the city councillor responsible sustainable development. Storm sewers, he suggests, can be overwhelmed during these rainstorms, and so the threat of backup and flooding is a real concern.
BCAG: A Good Day at the Market
BCAG members were back at the Brockville Farmers' Market yesterday, selling rain barrels and demonstrating the use of a solar oven. We sold four of our barrels, gave away lots of solar-baked oatmeal cookies (thanks Chris!), and chatted with lots of passers-by. Our friends from the local chapter of the Council of Canadians also had a good day, selling out most of their reusable produce bags.
We now offer an improved version of our rain barrels, courtesy of Barry de Jong and Procter and Gamble's Brockville operations who have donated some of their used barrels. The tops of these are clamped onto the barrel, and can be removed for easy end-of-season cleaning.
We will likely be back at the market again on Saturday, August 20. This will be a big day at the market, with live entertainment and the launch of their 'Local Harvest' season.
Be Water Wise
Ecology Ottawa Update / 07 June 2011
It is important for all of us to be wise about how we use water.
Water consumption during the spring and summer months commonly doubles or even triples due to outdoor water use and irrigation practices. Conserving water conserves the energy required to clean and pump it. If we are serious about reducing our contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change, we all need to be more water wise.
Sustainability Starts at Home
The Epoch Times / Luke Hughes / 16 August 2010
The effect of climate change on our daily lives is becoming more apparent every day. Most of us are as acutely aware of the environmental challenges facing the world today, as we are of the increasingly high cost of living and of our own health and well-being. Organic gardener, co-founder of “Bellis”( Brisbane’s award-winning sustainable house and garden) and a presenter on ABC TV’s Gardening Australia show Jerry Coleby-Williams will be in town for the Organic Expo & Green Show at Darling Harbour this week. He spoke with The Epoch Times about how the average household can play a powerful role in the challenges our society faces.
BCAG Monthly Public Meeting
Alternative Toilet Systems - and Other Ways to Reduce Your Water Footprint
Speaker: Bob Sneyd, Centre for Sustainable Watersheds
Most of us just flush our waste away and never think much more about it. Maybe it's time we did.
Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative
The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative is a coalition of U.S. and Canadian mayors and other local officials working to advance the protection and restoration of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River. By integrating their environmental, economic and social agendas, local governments are helping to sustain a resource that represents approximately 20 percent of the world’s surface freshwater supply, provides drinking water for 40 million people, and is the foundation upon which a strong regional economy is based. Members of the Cities Initiative are committed to working together and with other orders of government and stakeholders to improve infrastructure, programs and services and increase investments that protect and restore this globally significant freshwater resource. Only by working together to protect the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence can we preserve and enhance the quality of life and economic well being of the people of the region.
Along the Ontario stretch of the St. Lawrence River, only Kingston and Cornwall are affiliated with the Cities Initiative.
