18:34:27 As you know my name is Nicole Broquet and I am the Environmental Education Coordinator at the Marine Resources Council (MRC). And I am here to teach you about our rain barrels.

18:34:44 Just a little bit of quick background about who the Marine Resources Council is if you are unfamiliar with us. We are a non profit organization that is based down in Palm Bay and we work out of the lagoon house. And we are dedicated to protecting and restoring the Indian River Lagoon through science, restoration, and educaiton. 

18:35:03 We have a lot of really great science programs that really focus on water quality in and around the lagoon as well as the effects of stormwater on our waterways. So I won't go too much into these, just wanted to touch on them a little bit.

18:35:25 Another thing we do is restoration. We recently expanded our mangrove nursery capacity. In the non-COVID times we have monthly workshops where we have volunteers come in and help maintain our mangroves. We also have a lot plantings going on this year. If you are a homeowner with more than 100 or about 100 linear feet of shoreline and you are interested in possibly restoring your shoreline. Please contact the Marine Resources Council to see if we can help you out. 

18:35:49 The last thing we do is education and is what we are doing right here, right now with our live webinar and talking about our rain barrels!

18:36:35 Just to make sure we are all very familiar with the Indian River Lagoon. I just wanted to share some of my favorite facts about it. It is more than 30% of Florida's east coast. This is a zoom out of Florida's east coast and the Indian River Lagoon system encompasses a huge area of Florida. There we are with Brevard County and we have the largest portion of the Indian River Lagoon system along our coastline. The entire Indian RIver Lagoon system is 156 miles long, which is almost 3,000 football fields in length or basically going to Disney World and back. 

18:36:47 Because it is so huge, it supports more species than almost anywher else on Earth. Over 4,300 different species of plants and animals.

18:37:13 That's due to the fact that it was once a naturally resilient system. With its vast mangrove forests and vast seagrass beds. 

18:37:24 But we have changed the Lagoon. The greatest thing we have done to change the lagoon is to change our natural habitats into impervious surfaces. You can really see that in the picture on the lefthand side. We don't have a lot of natural green habitat. All those little white specs are different houses and buildings and structures and we don't have those natural systems that are capturing the storm water.

18:37:34 A lot people don't realize what goes down the drain goes into our water systems, which lead into the lagoon. 

18:38:03 Earlier I mentioned that the Marine Resources Council does a lot with water quality and monitoring. One of the things that we do is we also creating the Indian River Lagoon Report Card, which is kind of like a health update that is kind of user friendly for the average person. It talks about over 20 years of state monitoring data and it is evaluating the water quality and sea grass health of the Indian River Lagoon so taking the actual data and comparing it to regulatory standards.

18:38:33 What we found through this is that in 2016 we had that massive super bloom, which resulted in very poor water quality scores throughout the northern portion of the Lagoon. Each one of those little dots is a sampling location which is extrapulated out into a full color of those different bodies of water. You can see the northern portion of the Lagoon, the Mosquito Lagoon, and the Banana River we all doing quite poor. 

18:38:46 However, in 2017, you can see that there was an improvement. You can see that all the dots starting turning from red to yellow, some lighter oranges and even some greens. So you can see that the water quality did improve over time. 

18:39:04 Same with the southern portion of the lagoon. You can see water quality moved from average to about pretty decent that are even some very good locations. However we do know that things are changing now in the Lagoon so hopefully our water quality scores will still be alright. 

18:39:57 However, though our water quality was improving but our sea grass was definitely still suffering. You can see that we didn't have a lot of great scores throughout the entire Lagoon in 2016 and in 2017 you can see that there wasn't very much improvement at all. You can also see that for the southern portion of the lagoon. Not a lot of change from 2016 to 2017, maybe a marginal amount, but you can see that our sea grass has had a lot of issues recovering in the Lagoon.

18:40:14 The question everyone always asks is "Is the health of the lagoon improving?". When you are looking at this graph you can see the solid blue line is the water quality averages for each year from 1996 to 2017. The solid green line is the habitat quality for sea grass over time, which shows it is jagged. The blue dotted line is the water quality trend and you can see that it is going straight across, almost matching up to that stable level, whereas the seagrass habitat quality trend is kind of on a downward trend. This shows that maybe water quality is doing alright, maybe sea grass is still struggling.   

18:40:59 With results like these a lot of people ask, 'What can I do to help? How can I continue that stable water quality level and how can I improve the sea grass habitat?'

18:41:16 One of the easiest things you can do to support the lagoon is to become Lagoon Loyal. This is a new environmental education campaign that is sponsored by Brevard County that was created to raise awareness amongst community members about the actions they can do that positively impact the Lagoon. By completing these actions, participants will receive points that they can use towards coupons to local businesses in and around the Lagoon. I highly recommend becoming Lagoon Loyal and this presentation will also qualify for points towards the Lagoon Loyal program.

18:41:50 The next thing you can do is skip the fertilizer. We are still in a fertiler ban for about two more weeks so when the ban is lifted, please ask yourself 'Does your lawn really need to be fertilized? Can you use an alternative fertilizer? Perhaps one that still does not have nitrogen or phosphorus in it, maybe something that has iron in it or magnesium to help your plants in a different way. 

18:42:05 Also, please do not apply fertilizer within 10 feet of water. 

18:42:35 Another thing you can do that is super simple that will make a big impact on the lagoon, is taking care of your grass clippings properly. Grass is full of excess nutrients that cause algae blooms. Grass is fantastic at pulling up the nitrogen and phosphorus from the soil and being like little green monsters full of nutrients.

18:43:05 When grass clippings are cut and then enter the lagoon through storm drains, they act like fertilizer bombs in the lagoon. 

18:43:18 There are different things you can do to reuse your grass clippings, such as blowing them on your lawn and using them for lawn fertilizer. You can even use them as multch for garden beds. You can also use them for compost material. Like I said they have a ton of nutrients so if you blow grass clippings back onto your yard or use the clippings in composting, you are reusing those nutrients and decreasing the chance of them entering the lagoon. So say "no" to grass clippings.

18:43:42 If you do not maintain your own lawn and you have someone else maintaining it, please make sure you are using responsible landscaping professionals that are diverting this mower shoot away from permeable surfaces and storm drains, make sure that they are blowing lawn clippings back onto the lawn, and are only applying fertilizers and pesticides when needed and not excessively. 

18:44:06 Next, please pick up after your pet. 102 tons of dog waste are left in the lagoon watershed every single day! That is more than the space shuttle! A lot of people think that it is fine to leave out dog waste because it is natural. However, one, there 102 tons of it and I don't think anyone wants that much going into the lagoon. And two, it can contain harmful bacteria and pesticides, which can enter than lagoon through stormwater. So be a good human and pick up after your pet. 

18:44:58 Another thing that you can do is plant Florida friendly plants. These are going to be plants that are adapted to Florida's environment that means less maintenance and will have fewer water and fertilizer requirements in comparison to exotic plants because they are adapted to environmental stressors that are common to Florida. Florida native plants will also attract Florida native animals and pollinators, such as hummingbirds and butterflies. 

18:45:13 You can even start your own mangrove nursery at home! Collect mangrove propagules you find along the shoreline, never pick them from trees. Then you can start your own mangrove nursery! We have information about how to do this on the MRC website. If you are interested in more information, please let me know!

18:45:21 Next, wash the car right. Use a commercial car wash because they must properly dispose of their waste water. Or if you like to wash your car at home, please wash your car on the grass or on a gravel pad. Please do not pour soap down the storm drains, whatever goes into your storm drain has the potential to go into the lagoon. 

18:45:51 Reduce your water use in general. Simply watering the grass less by watering when a rain event is not predicted. Also making sure that your sprinklers are properly operating and not watering the side walk. Or use a spray nozzle for targeted watering. Or use a rain barrel.  

18:46:14 Now that you have a solid background, we are going to talk more about our rain barrels!

18:46:34 This is a picture taken at the lagoon house, and I love sharing it because it just shows the intensity of a lot of Florida's storms and how much rainfall we can get here.

18:46:44 The average rainfall in brevard county is 54 inches per year, whereas the US average is only 38 inches per year. So we get a ton of rainfall. 

18:47:17 To put this in perspective, because we don't have those natural habitats that capture rainfall, we have our roads, our houses, a lot of impermeable surfaces... a 40 by 80 ft roof will produce over 100,000 gallons of runoff per year

18:47:34 That same roof, in the month of April which only has an average of 2.1 inches of rain, will produce over 4,000 gallons of runoff which is equivalent to 76, 55-gallon rain barrels. 

18:47:44 These are our rain barrels. If you have already purchased one, this is what you are going to get. They are 55-gallon food grade barrels that have never had any harse chemicals in them. That means that we are reducing our impact and increasing sustainability by reusing these barrels. We have cleaned out the barrels and cut the entire tops off. 

18:48:03 The reason being that gives you more flexibility on where you place your rain barrel. A lot of people do not have access to reciprocating saws which is what you need to cut these heavy-duty barrels. So we cut the tops off so you can place the barrel in a location at your home that works best for you. 

18:48:37 Barrels are covered with mosquito netting to prevent different insects from entering your water and to keep out birds and other animals. This will help protect the water in your barrel. 

18:48:51 We have secured the mosquito netting to the barrel with a repurposed bicycle tire. Again we are reducing our impact and increasing sustainability by reusing different items. We also have a 3/4 inch spigot attached, which fits most garden hoses. So it is a very diverse barrel.

18:49:05 When you are installing the rain barrel the first critical step is to make sure you are putting your barrel in a spot where you are going to use it. Where is the barrel going to be best situated in your yard so that you will actually use the rain water and the barrel doesn't be become some junk just sitting in your yard.

18:49:37 The next step is making sure you are putting it near a downspout or a V in your roof. If you do not have a downspout or a V in your roof, the next time it rains watch to see where the greatest runoff from your house is located. You might have a point in your roof where the water leads off the most or you'll see that you are accumulating more runoff in one portion of your yard... that might be a better spot to place your barrel. 

18:50:10 Additionally, try to place your barrel out of direct sunlight. Try the best you can with this, we are in Florida so we can't really escape the sun here. So at the Lagoon House, we do get sun on our barrels, which is fine. We just recommend that you put a hand to the barrel before you use the water in it. Just to make sure that the water is not super hot or baking in the sun because hot water and plants do not mix. 

18:50:34 In the picture, you can see that we have our rain barrels right by our mangrove nursery for ease of use, we also have the barrels right by our downspout system.

18:50:47 Once you've picked your location, you want to make sure you have your barrel on a solid level surface. You can be creative with that, such as using gravel, paving tiles, or bricks or a cement pad. Anything that will give your barrel a flat surface. You do not want someone to accidentally bump a half filled rain barrel and have it fall over. You want to make sure that it is nice and level.

18:51:16 With our rain barrel system (at the MRC) we use paving tiles and cinder blocks to create a flat stable surface.

18:51:34 After you have selected your location, you have nice stable surface, you need to raise the elevation of your rain barrel. This is important to rain the elevation of your raiin barrel before adjusting your down spout so you know how high you need to raise your barrel or how much you need to adjust your down spout to make it more accessible to your rain barrel.   

18:51:53 What we do at the Marine Resources Council, we use two levels of cinder blocks with paving tiles. We put four paving tiles down then place the cinder blocks in a square spiral to make sure there are no weak spots in the elevated surface.

18:52:10 You can also use pre-made stands from hardware retailers. Those can range anywhere from $25 to a couple hundred dollars, whereas using cinder blocks and paving tiles may cost $25-30 at the most. You can also use wooden stands, but just make sure that you are building a very sturdy structure as these barrels can be over 460 pounds when full.  

18:52:30 So you want to make sure that you are using quality wood if you are building a wooden structure. Also, the higher the barrel, the better water flow due to gravity. 

18:53:17 This is a picture of someone's rain barrel who did a highbrid of the two, using the cinder block and paving tile method but then they used half of a wiskey barrel that they filled with dirt and had plants growing in it so any kind of overflow from the barrel, watered the plants. This is kind of a more fun and aesthetic method than just having your rain barrel fully exposed on cinder blocks.

18:53:35 Now that you have built your height, you will need to decide if you are going to adjust your downspout and if so, do you need to have an overflow hose or a diverster system. I tied these two together because your choice will influence your next steps.

18:53:54 The method at the lagoon house was to have a flexible downspout added and our solution to overlow, was to have a connected system of 8 rain barrels.

18:54:18 If you will just adjust your downspout you will need to determine if you will straight cut your downspout and/or add a flexible downspout, which you can purchase for $3-15 at most hardware stores.

18:54:31 To cut your downspout you can use a hacksaw or tinsnips. It is loud, but it is super easy to do. Depending upon which kind of downspout extension you use, you may need to secure it with metal screws or zip ties as needed. Some downspout extensions will snugly attach to you downspout, while others may need additional attachments. This just depends on which materials you use. 

18:54:55 Next you will need to determine if you need an overflow and/or diverter system. This is because the barrels do fill up incredibly quickly

18:55:10 A 10 x 10 roof will fill up a rain barrel with an inch of rainfall so you are filling up an entire barrel really quickly. If you do not use your collected water between one rain event and the next, you need to make sure that you have a method to deal with your excess water. 

18:55:56 To overcome this issue, you can have an overflow tube that will direct the water away from your home, you can add additional rain barrels, or you can leave a soaker hose attached to your rain barrel to divert water away.

18:56:57 The reasoning behind this is that you don't want that excess water overflowing right next to the foundation of your house. 

18:57:17 Here is an example of using a down spout diverter system. This is an attachment that goes in between two pieces of your downspout and there is a little lip inside of the diverter, which is attached to a hose that leads to the rain barrel. This helps prevent debris from entering the hose and leading into your barrel. Once your barrel is full, the excess water will go back up the tube and down the downspout away from your house. On the right hand side, this is a picture of a barrel with a diverter hose directly attached to the barrel, which allows excess water to be diverted away from the house. These are two different methods for using a diverter system.

18:57:49 Here is a skematic of one barrel system with the downspout diverter. On the right hand side there is a system of barrels to deal with excess water. 

18:58:01 Here are pictures of actual rain barrel systems with multiple rain barrels. You can see that in the pictures, the barrels are connected at the bottom, but you can also connect them at the top, it does not matter. Our only recommendation is that you connect your barrels with a large diameter pipe, ours is 3 inches, this is so that if there is any debris in your barrels and you are unable to access the pipe, water will still be able to flow all the barrels. A wider diameter pipe will also help the water flow from one barrel to the next and there won't be issues with water pressure. 

18:58:32 Now that you have installed the barrel you will need to do maintenance. Rain barrels do have some up keep that you have to take care of.

18:58:43 We recommend that you drain the barrel monthly if you are not using the water consistently. This is to prevent you from having stagnant water or algae growing in your barrel. 

18:58:49 You will also need to make sure you keep your gutters clean. You do not need to do this all the time, but after a season change when we lose a lot of leaves, you might want to check your gutters to see if you have a lot of leaf litter accumulating in them, which may end up in your barrels and clog your spigot. The cleaner you keep your gutters, the cleaner your barrel will be, and the less chance that you will develop algae growth or have debris clog your spigot. 

18:59:16 That leads to the next maitenance requirement. Keep your barrel and spiket free of debris. If you ever start losing flow from your spigot, you can use a piece of wire or a zip tie and stick it through your spigot to break up and remove debris. 

18:59:53 If you have any issues with algae growth, which can happen if you are not using the collected water regularly, if your barrel is in a sunny spot, or if your barrel has been installed for a long period of time, you can start to accumulate algae. 

19:00:04 To combat this, dump your barrel, rinse it, and then add a small capful of bleach. This will help keep the algae level down and a small amount of bleach will not harm your plants!

19:00:09 Also check for leaks, every six months to a year. You can use aquarium caulk or any kind of PVC cement, which you can find at hardware stores and they work well. As I mentioned, the barrels are pretty industrial so you shouldn't have any leaks there, but we do recommend checking your spigot occassionally. 

19:00:31 About once per year, drain your barrel completely, rinse it, scrub it with soap and water or bleach, let it dry. This will help kill anything that might have been on it or that has been growing that you don't want to have there. 

19:00:58 A couple of things that you can do with your rain water. You can use it to water your grass or flower gardens. You can use the rain water to water house plants by filling up a watering can. 

19:01:11 You can also use your rain water for filling bird baths, dog pools or ponds. 

19:01:22 You can also add rain barrel water to human pools, but do so slowly so that you are not abruptly changing your water chemistry. Also, make sure that you are regularly conducting your pool maitenance so that the pH of your pool is not changing greatly with the addition of the rain water, give it approximately 24 hours before swimming if you are adding a large amount of water. 

19:01:44 You can use the rain barrel to wash your car, just please make sure that you are washing your car on the grass or gravel to make sure the soap or grit from your car is not going down the drain and into the lagoon. 

19:02:07 Can you use the rain barrel water to water your vegetables? This is at your own discretion. There was a study conducted by Rutgers that stated that it was fine to use your rain barrel water to water your vegetables, but they recommended using a 3% bleach solution in your barrel. This is equivalent to 1 oz of bleach in a 55-gallon barrel. 

19:03:04 Additionally, they do not recommend using the water if your roof has been treated for any mold or had any pesticide treatment as you do not want those chemicals being absorbed by your vegetables. Also, do not water vegetables with your rain barrel water if you have a copper roof. If you are going to use the water for your vegetables, make sure you apply the water directly to the soil of the vegetable garden not the vegetables themselves. This can be accomplished by using a soaker hose that is laid through the garden. Also, water in the morning so that there is time for UV sterilization to occur. 

19:03:28 MRC always has rain barrels available for purchase through our giftshop at www.savetheIRL.org

19:09:32 You can get a copy of the IRL report card on the MRC website

19:09:40 www.savetheirl.org