Rainwater Harvesting for Urban Gardeners: A Hands-On Workshop

Presented by Tara Hui and Christina Bertea from Greywater Action http://www.greywaterguerrillas.com/


Simple, low-cost rainwater catchment systems can increase your backyard harvest, reduce stormwater runoff and prevent combined sewer overflows, recharge aquifers, and lower your water bill. In this hands-on workshop, students will review design and build a multi-unit rain barrel system.

Date: October 23, Saturday
Time: 11 am to 4 pm
Location: 11 Wawona Street, San Francisco

Starting with a lecture, we will go over different catchment systems, and design considerations. During the hands-on portion after lunch (included in the workshop), we’ll locate the downspouts, and install a 675-gal rain-catchment system on-site, using recycled drums provided by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC).

Sign up through the Greywater Action website: http://greywateraction.org/content/workshop-sign (1st 10 people to sign-up will receive a free drum, courtesy of SFPUC, at the workshop)

$30-$100 sliding scale. (Limited work trade available. Please contact us early to inquire. Not available the day of.)

A rather unusual bike tour: visiting San Francisco’s sewers!

On Saturday, September 25, close to 40 hearty cyclists embarked on a bike tour of a small segment of San Francisco’s infamous sewer system.

The cyclists (aka ‘sewer-bike enthusiasts’ including SFPUC staff) began their journey at 17th and Folsom and rode along the historic alignment of Mission Creek as it would have flowed in the 1800s.

The creek’s winding route coursed westerly along what is now Division Street, turned southwesterly, crossing Alabama and Harrison Streets, and then proceeded south between Harrison Street and Treat Avenue to Eighteenth Street. The original mouth of the creek, which would have been the estuary of Mission Creek, is west of 7th Street. The current layout of many streets south of and parallel to Market Street are curved because of the original footprints of Mission Bay and Mission Creek. Read more about the tour at streetblog.

Does this pique your interest? You can definitely learn more about our sewer system at sfsewers.org and the SFPUC’s stormwater management program, including urban watershed management, at http://stormwater.sfwater.org. Who knows? There might be another ‘sewer bike tour’ and you can find about that right here if and when that’s the case!

Sign-Up for a 3-part Gardening Workshop at Garden for the Environment

San Francisco Residents- Sign-Up for a 3-part gardening workshops at the Garden for the Environment, sponsored by the SFPUC! The 3-part workshops will take place in November 2010.

Saturday, November 6, 2010:

Introduction to Organic Gardening Design: http://eventbrite.com/event/698294618

Saturday, November 12, 2010:

Introduction to Organic Garden Care: http://eventbrite.com/event/853746579

Saturday, November 19, 2010:

Introduction to Organic Garden Watering: http://eventbrite.com/event/853762627

For more information on the Garden for the Environment, please call (415)731-5627 or visit: http://www.gardenfortheenvironment.org/