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rain barrels

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New ‘Quiz,’ Website to Jumpstart Your Discounted 2018 Green Home Upgrade

Dec 11, 2017
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Click this image to visit the new Rain Check site and answer a few questions that will help you find the best discounted green stormwater improvement for your home.
The updated Rain Check website offers customized options for residents interested in free or discounted green improvements offered through the Philadelphia Water Department Rain Check program. Visit www.PWDRainCheck.org

Rain Check—our program best known for providing City residents with free rain barrels—is entering its sixth year with a new website designed to encourage more home landscaping projects that protect local waterways.

By visiting the new Rain Check site, residents can now get a jumpstart on sustainable projects in the new year by discovering the best green upgrade for their property, right from their phone or computer.

“More than 3,500 Philly homes now have rain barrels or other green stormwater tools thanks to Rain Check, so there’s clearly an appetite for sustainable home improvement projects in our city,” says program manager and PWD employee Jeanne Waldowski. “With this new website, we’re giving people who are thinking big about ‘greening’ their home in 2018 the tools they need to make it happen.”

While free rain barrels are the most popular tool installed through Rain Check, the program also provides deep discounts on a range of green upgrades that lessen a home’s stormwater pollution footprint.

Using fresh features on the new website, homeowners can explore whether a rain barrel, planter, or more involved green upgrade—such as a rain garden or rain-absorbing back patio—is a good fit for their property. After deciding what tool is the best option for shrinking their property’s stormwater pollution footprint, residents can sign up for an upcoming workshop.

The free educational workshops, held in neighborhoods across the city, are mandatory to receive a free rain barrel or participate in Rain Check cost-sharing.

Check it Out: Take a quick quiz that will help you pick a project now

Rain Check

“People don’t always have time to come to one of our free Rain Check workshops just to find out that their property doesn’t qualify for a rain barrel or other green tool, so we designed the new site in a way that will help residents find out in advance what will work best on their property,” says Waldowski. “By taking a short quiz about their property, people can quickly find out if Rain Check is a good fit and what options are available.”

Qualifying projects can receive up to $2,000 through Rain Check cost-sharing.

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Embrace the Rain: Get in on Our Rain Check Program Today!

May 9, 2016
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It seems as if everyone in Philadelphia has had enough of the wet spring we've been having.

Picking up on those soggy feelings, CBS Philly did a short segment on one great way to cope with all the showers—our Rain Check program.
Check out the rain barrel setup and beautiful planter in the video below, and think about signing up for Rain Check to get a stormwater tool for your home:

While being part of the Rain Check program won't chase the clouds away, you can help to keep excess stormwater out our sewers and protect Philly's rivers while getting a free barrel or reduced-cost downspout planter, rain garden or permeable patio. Water collected in rain barrels can be used for things like watering flowers, and planters and rain gardens are a great way of adding landscaping to your property that also happens to protect the environment.

Click here to learn about other green home improvement projects and to sign up for a Rain Check workshop that will help you find the right stormwater tool for your home!

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Landscaping That Helps Our Rivers? Tune in to ‘Radio Times’ Tomorrow and Get Inspired!

Mar 9, 2016
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Ditch the Concrete: This yard was depaved through Philadelphia Water’s Rain Check program, which helps homeowners build and pay for green tools that beautify properties and improve local water quality. Credit: Philadelphia Water

Concrete and asphalt — not exactly materials you associate with the beauty of spring in Philadelphia, right?

In addition to being unpleasant to look at, these materials contribute to the urban “heat island” effect, amplify noise pollution, and divert water from storms into our (often overwhelmed) sewer system instead of allowing it to slowly filter into the ground naturally.

That last problem—the water-repelling or “impervious” nature of roofs, driveways, sidewalks and concrete-covered backyards—is something that Philadelphia Water has been working to address through our Rain Check program. By educating and working with homeowners through Rain Check, we’ve made hundreds of properties in the city not only more beautiful, but also better at managing stormwater that can damage homes and pollute our waterways. We’ve also given away over 4,000 free rain barrels to Philadelphia residents since 2006.

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Rain Barrel Workshops are Coming Up!

Apr 10, 2014
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The Philadelphia Water Department and the Energy Coordinating Agency (ECA) are providing free rain barrels to Philadelphians.  Rain barrels work by capturing stormwater through disconnected downspouts that collect rain water from roofs. Water that flows into the rain barrel can then be used for irrigating our gardens, window boxes and  and lawn watering.

To receive your free rain barrel complete with installation,  attend a rain barrel workshop. These workshops are held in locations around the city throughout the year.

To learn more about the rain barrel program and to see if there are workshops near you, visit phillywatersheds.org/rainbarrel.

Also, check out PWD at next week’s Climate Smart: Artists Respond to Climate Change event. Chris Anderson from the Water Department Public Affairs Division will be participating. For more information: https://www.facebook.com/events/516312131812239/?ref=22

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Residential Stormwater RFP Opportunity

Feb 3, 2014
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The Philadelphia Water Department recently posted a request for proposal (RFP) for the management of two of our residential stormwater programs: Rain Check and Rain Barrels. PWD is seeking a Philadelphia based team with education and outreach experience that can also provide professional engineering support to administer the implementation of residential stormwater management tools on properties throughout the City.

Find more information on our Rain Check and Rain Barrels programs.

To view the full RFP, visit http://secure.phila.gov/econtract/ and search for opportunity # 21140123172141.

Responses are due February 28 and there will be a pre-proposal meeting, tomorrow, February 4. All questions about the RFP must be submitted in writing to Jeanne Waldowski.

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