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The Potomac Highlands Watershed School PHWS Projects 2012 Musselman High School, Inwood, WV Rain Garden |
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The Potomac Highlands Watershed School PHWS Projects 2012 Musselman High School, Inwood, WV Rain Garden |
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Tomahawk Intermediate School Rain Barrels 4/15/12-4/16/12 On April 15th and 16th 2012, Tomahawk Intermediate School in Hedgesville, WV involved the entire 3rd grade in watershed restoration projects and community outreach. Cacapon Institute (CI) spearheaded a student-led project to design and install three rain barrels to capture roof runoff and use it to water a 37 foot by 8 foot raised bed rain garden and a similarly sized wildflower seed planting. Nearly 200 students, eight teachers, five staff members and ten parent volunteers were involved in restoration projects in 2012. See these other related Tomahawk projects here: (link) Artists from each third grade class teamed up to learned about rain barrels and designed, painted and installed three of them at the school. These rain barrels allow the other restoration projects installed at the school in April 2012 to manage even more polluted runoff. These 55 gallon rain barrels each capture potentially polluted runoff from a large area of the school’s roof and stores it safely. Once the rain barrels fill to a collective capacity of 150 gallons in a large rain, the rain water flows back into the standard underground drainage system. The students helped CI's Frank Rodgers attach the piping and hoses. In drier weather, the rain water in the barrels is used to water the rain garden and the wildflower planting. It is not the number of Best Management Practices installed that is important, but the number that continue to be successful in managing stormwater and educating students. These rain barrels reduce the amount of city water that needs to be plumbed to the school for watering plants and manage more roof runoff before it enters Back Creek. These Rain Barrel Committee members were some of the most artistic painters at the school. They painted beautiful designs and added informational messages for the whole school to enjoy for years to come. To learn how to install your own rain barrel, see the Opequon Creek Project Team's instructions. |
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