Daily Acts was delighted when Cherry Valley Elementary reached out to collaborate on a rainwater harvesting talk and installation. The two-part series on Rainwater Harvesting began with a presentation on Thursday, February 21st, 2019 from 6:00-7:30pm. This talk set the context for the installation the following Saturday by giving an overview of our watershed focusing on rainwater collection and storage.
The installation, led by the BlueBarrel Systems founder, Jesse Savou, took place two days later on February 23rd from 10am-3pm. Jesse built on content covered in the presentation and offered a hands-on opportunity to install a collection system. She demonstrated the process and then divided participants into groups. Each group was responsible for plumbing together two barrels. These barrels were then put in place and connected with the barrels from the other groups. Volunteers also joined forces to move the school’s second shed to a location where students and staff could install the remaining 4 rain barrels in the weeks to come.
Cherry Valley was able to receive funding to complete this installation through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA)’s Ocean Guardian Grant; the funding allowed them to purchase 12 BlueBarrels and a brand new shed! The City of Petaluma financially supported Daily Acts in coordinating the events and outreaching to the community.
