Host a hands-on rain barrel installation workshop!

Would you like to harvest the rain?

Greywater Action is looking for a few qualifying home sites on which to hold their popular “Rainwater Harvesting for Urban Gardeners” hands-on workshop. If your home qualifies, you can host a workshop and have a rainwater harvesting system built in your home or garden!

Home site requirements:

• Site must be located in San Francisco.

• Yard or garden must contain a roof downspout that has never been connected to the sewer system. (This means that water flowing through the downspout flows onto the ground.)

• Yard or garden surface is level with or slopes down from the rainwater harvesting storage area.
Hosts will need to:

• Provide lunch for workshop participants.
• Sign a liability waiver.
• Participate in a survey.
• Strap completed rainwater harvesting system to a wall or fence for seismic safety (the Department of Building Inspection requires using two 3/4-inch perforated 24-gauge steel straps). Straps will be installed during the workshop.

Hosts will be given free 45-gallon food drums (provided by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission) which will be converted into rain barrels during the workshop. Hosts will need to purchase all additional hardware required to build the system.

Note: Workshop participant fees cover teacher’s fees for the workshop. However, if participant fees fall short of covering teacher’s fees, hosts will be required to pay the difference (this occurs very rarely).

For more information or to apply to host a Greywater Action “Rainwater Harvesting for Urban Gardeners” workshop, please write to: tarahui@hotmail.com.

Double-decker buses worth of fat!

BBC News UK: Massive fat mounds removed from London's sewers

Thames Water says it has removed enough fat to fill nine double decker buses from London's sewers.

Check out this video and see for yourself!

This problem is close to home as well - Fats, oil and grease (FOG) are a serious problem for San Francisco’s wastewater system too clogging our sewers and costing more than $3.5 million each year to unclog the pipes.

BUT WAIT! The SFPUC's SFGreasecycle program is there to help alleviate this fatty problem. Visit www.SFGreasecycle.org, and learn how we can turn FOG into biofuel. You should give it a try - whether you are with a restaurant or are a SF resident.

Watershed Stewardship Grants applications are due this Thursday, July 15!

Reminder! The current Watershed Stewardship Grants cycle ends this Thursday, July 15!

The application is available online on the both the Urban Watershed Management Program and the Community Challenge Grant Program websites. Applications are due Thursday, July 15, 2010, no later than 4:30 PM, City Hall, Room 362. Winners will be notified the week of September 20, 2010. Applicants can get started by reviewing the following information:

· Watershed Stewardship Grant Flyer
· Watershed Stewardship Grant Evaluation Criteria

And by completing the following forms:

· CCG Project Budget Template (Word)
· CCG Reporting Forms (Word)
· CCG Volunteer Match Form (Word)

The grant is a partnership between the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission SFPUC Urban Watershed Management Program and the Community Challenge Grant Program. It is aimed at enabling community-driven implementation of green infrastructure.

For more information, visit our website at http://stormwater.sfwater.org or the Community Challenge Grant Program website at http://sfgsa.org/index.aspx?page=4264.

If you have questions specifically about the Watershed Stewardship Grants, please contact me at sminick@sfwater.org.

Good luck to all of the applicants!

Best,
Sarah Minick