A group of students hope to alleviate the pollution of lakes, rivers and oceans through a small innovation.
One of the latest activities of the N.C . State student chapter of the Soil and Water Conservation Society is making rain barrels from disposed materials and selling it as a fundraiser. The main idea behind these barrels is to allow them to collect storm drain water.
Water pollution is a growing problem in Raleigh, with one of the larger contributors being pollutants from the storm water drainage system that feeds creeks, rivers, ponds and lakes. There is a common misconception that water flowing into storm drains goes to a treatment plant to get cleaned before flowing into the streams, but that isn’t the case, according to Frank Davis, graduate student in natural resources.
Storm water runoff picks up pollutants like dirt, oil, fertilizer, and cigarette butts and carries them directly to the nearest stream, lake, or river without any treatment whatsoever.
”Collecting run-off storm water by intercepting it when it falls down drains also saves the energy that would otherwise be required to pump up the water from other sources” David, member of the SWCS chapter, said. “Also, this prevents the soil erosion which storm water would otherwise cause by running off on the surface of land.”
People can use these barrels for collecting rainwater to water their gardens, which would also save clean drinking water that is otherwise used for this purpose.
“The barrels we get are mostly bought off places such as Craigslist or used pickle storing barrels from whole sale food vendors,” Nicholas Tyler Lannon , sophomore in agricultural and environmental technology, and member of the chapter, said. “We fix them up, attach nets, modify them and sell them according to customer orders. Orders can be placed for customized barrels.”
They also provide barrels with the NCSU logo on it. Options are unpainted, painted or primed barrels, with the price varying from 80 to 100 dollars per barrel. They have a variety of color options for painted barrels. The size also varies between 50 to 60 gallons per barrel.
The SWCS is a professional society of conservation-minded professionals from around the world. There are approximately 5,000 members worldwide with hundreds of student members. The student chapter at the University is relatively new, having been formed just last semester. They have just made a start into this activity with their first eight barrels sold so far, but hope to grow gradually.
“We operate mostly by word of mouth and hope that as more people become aware of this activity we will increase our sales,” Davis said.
According to Shawn Springer, Graduate in Biological and Agricultural Engineering, the organization doesn’t just do it for the money.
“Even more than making sales, we hope that at least we get the message out about our concern for this issue,” Springer said. “Pollution of lakes and rivers by storm water is a big issue, and one purpose of this activity is to get people thinking about it, and maybe somewhere in the future influencing politics so that more and more such activities are conceived which would help find solutions for this.”
The mission of the group is to find solutions for soil and water conservation, and anybody who is interested in the cause is welcome to join.
“All of us are already from pretty diverse backgrounds, and we would be glad to see this diversity grow,” Springer said.
