Rain Barrels and Storm Rain Barrels and Storm Water Management Water Management

in Chicagoin Chicago

Laura L. SandersLaura L. Sanders

What time of year was the photo taken? What time of day?

Was the camera to the east of the objects photographed, directly overhead, or to the west?

Property boundary

Garden plots

• How big is the property?• How does the area compare to an acre? Describe how big an acre is, in

terms meaningful to the non-geologists in your neighborhood.

• How much of the property is in garden plots?

A common rule of thumb: garden plants need about an inch of water per week.

To store it so I can water the garden once per week, how big a container do I need?

Where will I get the water? From the rain!

Rain Barrels

• What are they?• How do they work?• Why would anyone want one?

• Where does rain water go?

• Gutters and downspouts• Combined sewers

Rain barrels and the City of Chicago: egov.cityofchicago.org

Select “City Departments”, scroll down to “Environment”,

Under “Initiatives and Programs”, select “Water”.

Property boundary

Roofline of house (appears to extend beyond property because camera was not directly overhead)

• What is the area of the roof?

• How much rain will the roof collect?

• What is a typical rainfall in Chicago?

• Would it fill the two rain barrels? (see next two slides)

What happens to precipitation that falls on Chicago? (i.e. where does it go?)

What depth annual precipitation do we typically get in Chicago?

What volume annual precipitation do we typically get in Chicago?

Suggest some other strategies for reducing the amount of rain water flowing to city sewers.