The Brick Township Municipal Utilities Authority (Brick Utilities), in partnership with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) and Lakewood Township, announced a free Virtual Build a Rain Barrel Workshop on May 2, 2021. Participants will learn how to build their own rain barrel and install it at home.
Registered participants will be supplied with a free Rain Barrel Kit that includes one 55-gallon barrel with all openings cut out and all hardware to make a rain barrel for their home. These kits will be available at the Lakewood Public Works Department, 1 America Avenue, Lakewood, NJ, to all registrants the day of the webinar. The one hour instructional webinar will take place in the evening.
A rain barrel is placed under a gutter’s downspout next to a home to collect rain water from the roof. The barrel holds about 50 gallons of water which can be used to water gardens or other landscaping plants. Rain water collection can help conserve water, prevent basement flooding, and reduce flooding and pollution in local streams, rivers and lakes.
Class size for this event is limited, so early registration is recommended. Please contact Shari Kondrup via email at [email protected] or telephone at 732-551-4460 to register or obtain more information.
Barrels are 34 inches tall and 25 inches wide and can be placed lying down in the backseat of most vehicles to be transported home.
This program continues efforts by Brick Utilities, Lakewood Township and NJDEP to implement the Metedeconk River Watershed Protection & 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. It 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 ninety (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 the Barnegat Bay.