Protect your local stream and water your lawn at the same time by disconnecting your gutter downspout! The Baltimore region gets an average of 42 inches of rain per year, which means over 35,000 gallons of rain would drain from an average roof in one year! If your downspout is “connected”(meaning running into a municiple sewer system), all the water is piped directly to the street or your driveway where it picks up pollution, sediment and trash before flowing, untreated through the storm drain system to your local stream. If you live on a stream, the pipes often run directly into the stream channel! This extra water, which would usually slowly filter through the ground to the stream, can cause flooding in your yard or downstream. It also erodes the banks of the stream adding sediment to your local river and, eventually, the Chesapeake Bay.
So what can you do to help our streams and water your lawn or garden without lifting a finger?
You can disconnect your downspout from these underground pipes or paved surfaces and redirect the water to your lawn or a garden. By flowing onto a natural, pervious surface the water can soak back into the ground where plants and soil provide natural filtration of pollutants, thereby protecting our local rivers, streams and groundwater.
Our Downspout Disconnection Program:
Through a grant provided by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, we are offering FREE downspout disconnect for the residents of the Jennifer Branch Watershed. We will come look at your downspout and discussion options for disconnecting it. We’ll need to get a waiver to do the work, but then we can disconnect it for your completely FREE, including parts and labor. And, in the unlikely event you’re unhappy with it, we’ll come back and reconnect it for FREE!
How it a downspout “disconnected”?
Disconnecting the downspout is a safe, easy process where your underground pipe is capped and the gutter downspout is redirected to flow onto a natural area. The process requires cutting the downspout, attaching elbows, extensions and a splash block to direct the water away from your house. And don’t forget, we’ll come do it for you for free if you’re in the Jennifer Branch Watershed!
| Step 1 Measure 9" from where the downspout enters the sewer connection. |
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| Step 2 Cut the downspout with a hacksaw. |
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| Step 3 Cap the sewer standpipe. This prevents water from going in. In most cases, you should be able to use a simple rubber cap secured by hose clamp. You can also use a wing-nut test plug if available cap sizes don't fit. |
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| Step 4 Insert the downspout INTO the elbow (if you put the elbow into the downspout, it will leak). You may need to crimp the end of the downspout with a pair of pliers to get a good fit. |
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| Step 5 Attach a downspout pipe extension to carry water away from the house and foundation. You can use a hacksaw to cut the extension to the desired length. Be sure to insert the elbow into the extension to prevent leaks. Secure the elbow and extension with sheet metal screws. To prevent erosion where the water drains, you can place a splash block at the end of the downspout extension. |
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(courtesy of the MMSD.com)
There are also other “green solutions” that can filter and use your rain water. Visit these pages for more information:
Use a rain barrel to store rainwater and use it to wash your car, water your garden and yard and more!
Plant a rain garden to absorb water, grow beautiful native plants and attract birds and butterflies!
