1. Rain Barrels for Water Conservation and Stormwater Management
City of Chicago
Department of Environment
Natural Resources and Water Quality

2. Overview Why conserve water and manage stormwater?
Disconnecting your downspout
Rain Barrel installation and maintenance

3. Our water resources are not infinite.
The Chicago Region uses 2.4 billion gallons of water a day. That is more water than 4500 Olympic swimming pools.
Every faucet, sink, bathtub, shower, hose, sprinkler, dishwasher, washing machine and car wash in the city uses water from a single source: Lake Michigan.

4. Chicago’s Combined Sewer System (CSS)
To understand this, it’s helpful to know that Chicago’s sewer system is a Combined Sewer System (CSS). This means that Chicago’s sewers combine stormwater (all the water that falls on your roof and gutters, and all of our outdoor water use that ends up in the streets, and thus the sewers) with wastewater (everything that goes down the drain in your house and industries across the city).
Under normal conditions, this mix of stormwater and wastewater is sent to the treatment plant before it is released into local waterways. But during heavy rains, the sewers can get too full, and this mix of stormwater and wastewater can be released into local waterways before it is treated.
This sewer overload can also cause flooding in streets and basements. So, how can rain gardens help?
Additional info if asked:
MWRD’s Tunnel and Reservoir Plan (TARP) system is being built to help hold some of this excess water during overflows, and ideally prevent these CSOs from occurring. The reservoirs will be completed in stages from
The city sewer system is designed to accommodate a storm event of a 5-year magnitude, equivalent to about 1.2-in in 20 minutes or about 1.8-in in 1 hour?? The probability that a 5-year storm or greater will occur is about 20% in any one year, or 50 percent over a 3-year period, or 67% over a 5-year period.
The water is always treated after taken from the lake, so stormwater doesn’t affect our drinking supply, just the lake and river habitats, and basement flooding!
In fact, Chicago has some of the cleanest drinking water around, with strict regulations for quality (see DWM’s website). Bottled water doesn’t have any regulations on quality.
Diagram courtesy of City of Chicago Dept. of Sewers.

5. Stormwater Impacts Adverse Impacts on Biodiversity:
Flooded Basements
Untreated sewage in Chicago waterways
Clean Water Network
Excess water volume
Degraded water quality
Adverse Impacts on Biodiversity:
Erosion and flooding
Impaired habitat for plants and animals

6. “Soft” Stormwater Best Management Practices (BMPs)
Reduce amount of impervious surface areas
Utilize landscape and soils to support the natural flow of stormwater
Rain barrels, rain gardens, green roofs, permeable paving, bioswales, etc.
The first step in managing stormwater is preventing it from going into the sewer system.
Available online

7. Disconnecting your Downspout: First determine if conditions are appropriate
YES NO

8. APPROPRIATE? NO

9. APPROPRIATE?
YES

10. APPROPRIATE? NO

11. Rain Gardens! Shallow depression to collect water
Deep-rooted native plants to absorb water
Shallow depression to collect water
Turf strip for filtering and aesthetics

12. Disconnecting your Downspout – How To
Overflow should drain away from home into plants or mulch
See Disconnect Downspout brochure

13. Rain Barrel: Container that collects and stores rainwater from your rooftop (via a disconnected downspout) for later use on your lawn or garden
Conserve water and preserve Lake Michigan
Manage stormwater
Help plants thrive by giving them chlorine-free rainwater

14. Preparing to install your rain barrel
Conditions similar to disconnecting downspout
One inch of rain on a 1000 sq.ft. roof = about 625 gallons
If 4 downspouts, one downspout will take about 156 gallons in a one-inch rain.
Even in a half-inch rain, it would overflow the barrel by 20 gallons.
11 out of the 45 rain events in a 12-month period in were half an inch or more.
Tools:
Aluminum downspouts: Hacksaw, 6 screws and a screwdriver.
PVC downspouts: Hacksaw, PVC cement.
Optional:
Hose to attach to spigot;
Concrete blocks to place raised barrel on.

15. Installing your rain barrel
1. Place your barrel near the downspout you have selected, and plan out how you will direct the downspouts.
2. Disconnect your downspout from the sewer system by sawing the downspout above where the top of the rain barrel will be, leaving room for the elbow to be attached.
3. Attach a downspout elbow to the end of your downspout so that water from your downspout is directed into the rain barrel through the plastic screen vent on top.

16. Installing your rain barrel (cont.)
4. Secure elbow to downspout (Aluminum with screws; PVC with PVC cement).
5. Place your rain barrel under the downspout elbow.
Optional: Attach a hose to the spigot, and/or to any overflow hole.

17. Rain Barrel Use, Maintenance and Mosquito Prevention
DO NOT DRINK THE WATER
Use the water OFTEN for any outdoor use
Barrel will probably overflow; this is normal.
Check regularly for leaks and mosquitoes
Winter: leave drain hole and spigot open, or store upside down or inside
See handout for more…

18. Creative renovation
Credit: Cathie Van Wert

20. To Learn More…
Department of Environment website:
Conserve Chicago Together website:
Call the Chicago Department of Environment Water line: (312) 743-WATER