On January 29th, Daily Acts teamed up with Burbank Housing and BAAQMD to complete our final project for Carrillo Place Apartments; we installed a 550 gallon Blue Barrel Systems rainwater harvesting system. With the help of our friends Moises and William, Daily Acts staff installed ten barrels in the Carrillo Place Community Garden on a warm and sunny Saturday morning. The barrels will catch and store rain from the roof of the laundry room and community building, allowing residents to water their gardens with the best water for their plants: the rain!
In this time of repeated drought cycles, it’s more important than ever to be cherishing every drop of water that passes through our pipes and falls onto our homes and landscapes. With rainwater catchment strategies, we slow the water’s journey out into the ocean and we can lighten the demand on local rivers and reservoirs during the dryer months. In combination with strategies like sheet mulching, drip irrigation, rain gardens and swales (and more!), rain barrels can dramatically reduce the amount of water you need from your city or well – plus, it helps with the health of your plants and soil! These benefits ripple out to the health of broader ecosystems, the watershed, and even the climate!
Daily Acts staff and friends spent just a few hours of cutting and gluing PVC, drilling a few holes and plumbing together barrels, sharing many a laugh throughout the process, and as result, Carrillo Place residents will be able to contribute to watershed restoration from here on out.
Blue Barrel Systems is a local woman-owned company that sells DIY rainwater harvesting kits, complete with barrels!
