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2. Health Education
Family/Community Involvement
Physical Education
Health Promotion for Staff
Health Services
Nutrition Services
Healthy School Environment
EPA understands that schools have a tremendous amount of work they must juggle to deliver a quality education and ensure a sound and healthy environment for staff and children.
A healthy school environment is only one of the spokes in the environmental health “wheel.”
Today we will talk about asbestos—what it is, and what are the EPA regulations regarding asbestos in schools—and practices that can help ensure a healthy environment.
Counseling, Psychological and Social Services 2

3. What’s a rain barrel?
A rain barrel collects and stores rainwater from the roof that would otherwise be lost to runoff and diverted to storm drains and streams.
A rain barrel setup usually consists of a 55-gallon drum, a vinyl hose, PVC couplings and a screen grate. It can be installed under most residential gutter downspouts. 3

4. What are the advantages of a rain barrel?
A rain barrel is an easy way
for you to have a consistent supply
of FREE clean, fresh water for outdoor use. 4

5. What are the advantages of a rain barrel?
The watering of lawns and gardens make up nearly 40 percent of total household water use during the summer.
A rain barrel collects water and stores it for when you need it most -- during periods of drought -- to water plants, wash your car or top a swimming pool.
It provides an ample supply of free "soft water" to homeowners, containing no chlorine, lime or calcium. This water is ideal for gardens, flower pots, and car and window washing. 5

6. What are the advantages of a rain barrel?
A rain barrel will save most homeowners about 1,300 gallons of water during the peak summer months.
Saving water not only helps protect the environment, it saves you money and energy (decreased demand for treated tap water).
Diverting water from storm drains also decreases the impact of runoff to streams. 6

7. Where can I buy a ready-made rain barrel?
Ready-made rain barrels can be purchased from a number of sources, including hardware and garden supply stores and lumber yards.
Some local governments offer rain barrels for a reduced price as part of their environmental education or water conservation programs. 7

8. How can I make a rain barrel?
Rain barrel materials
1 – 55-gallon polyethylene plastic barrel (Plastic barrels or drums may be available for free or low cost from commercial car washes, bottling companies or other food businesses that use liquids.)
1 - ½-inch threaded bushing
1 - ½-inch female threaded socket
1 – 10-foot length of 2-inch PVC pipe
1 - roll Teflon tape
1 – 2-inch PVC elbow
1 – 1-foot by 2-foot piece of old or new screen fabric
1 – 2-inch female threaded by 2-inch PVC elbow
1 – 2-inch male threaded by 2-inch pipe adapter
1 – 1-gallon plastic bucket, tub or flowerpot
1 - tube silicone sealer/cement
4 - cinder blocks
1 - ½-inch female threaded silcock (aka outdoor faucet or hose bib)
Optional - paint to match your house color 8

9. How do I make a rain barrel?
Tools
Jig Saw
Power Drill with ¾-inch Spade Bit
Scissors
Pipe Wrench and Pump Pliers
Screw Driver
Hack Saw
Tape Measure
Level 9

10. How do I make a rain barrel?
Step 1 - Inflow
Cut a hole in the top of barrel to allow rainwater to enter the barrel and to access the inside of the barrel.
- The hole should be just large enough to snugly fit the 1-gallon plastic bucket, tub or flower pot.
The bucket will be used to support a screen to keep mosquitoes and debris out.
- Cut a ¾-inch hole in the bucket or flower pot. 10

11. How do I make a rain barrel?
Step 2 - Spigot
Drill a ¾-inch hole close to bottom of the 55-gallon barrel.
- Don't drill the hole too far down inside the barrel where you can't reach it
Put Teflon tape on the ½-inch bushing and thread it into the silcock or hose bib.
Carefully thread the other end of bushing into the ¾-inch hole in bottom of barrel.
It should fit snugly in the hole and cut threads in the plastic as you screw it in.
- Now unscrew it from the barrel, apply Teflon tape to the threads of the bushing
and apply silicone to the outside of the flange on the silcock.
- Screw it back into the hole and into a ½-inch socket on the inside of the barrel. 11

12. How do I make a rain barrel? Step 3 – Downspout Modification
Prepare the area under the downspout where you want to install the rain barrel.
Remove the old downspout and splash block and level the area where the barrel will sit.
Place the concrete blocks so they are sloped slightly downward away from the house. Set the barrel on the blocks.
Using a hack saw, cut the downspout so it is just long enough to fit into the bucket on top of the rain barrel. 12

13. How do I make a rain barrel?
Step 4 - Overflow
You should provide an overflow for water in case the barrel fills to the top.
- Using a jig saw, cut a hole in the side of the barrel large enough to fit
the 2-inch male threaded by 2-inch pipe adapter.
- Place this fitting inside the barrel and thread it into the 2-inch female threaded by 2-inch PVC elbow on the outside of the barrel.
- Seal with silicone.
- Cut a length of 2-inch PVC pipe long enough to reach the ground.
- Attach a 2-inch PVC elbow to the bottom of this pipe and cut another length
of 2-inch pipe to connect to a splash block. 13

14. You have a handy source of free, clean
And, voila!
You have a handy source of free, clean
and fresh water! 14