In 2011, Bethlehem Childcare Center was award a ‘mini-grant’ from the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization to construct a ‘Rain Garden’ at one end of the outdoor playground. The rain garden serves several purposes:
- Providing for drainage of the play area
- Filtering runoff from the playground before entering the storm drains heading to the Mississippi
- Educating kids and community about eco-friendly landscaping and runoff management
- Efficiently using water from rain barrels for watering plants
In order to keep kids safe and away from the storm drain, Larry Johnson and Peter Koontz added temporary barrier fencing in spring 2014 using steel fence posts and netting supplied by Jill Ravensborg, and added PVC sheaths to keep little hands safe from sharp post edges.
Here’s a video of Dave Swanson and Howard Hinseth, with Dave describing the butterfly valves and plumbing design for the downspouts to fill the rain barrels.
Maintenance:
- Each fall, the barrels must be emptied, disconnected and flipped to survive winter outside
- Each spring, barrels put upright and re-connected
