Karen and Tom – sustainable BALLARD

Tom was interested in a rain garden as an interesting landscape feature, and also as a way to reduce the amount of lawn in the yard.

“We actually cashed in on the RainWise program twice. We first had a nice rain garden installed to drain half the roof, by Loralee from Wenger Design and Landscape.

Then about a year later, I learned from Jim Bristow that we could get cisterns through RainWise too, if they empty into the rain garden. So using Bristow Enterprises, we added two 205-gallon cisterns that help route the remaining roof area to the rain garden. To accommodate the additional runoff, he expanded the rain garden by a couple square feet.

Thanks to the RainWise rebates, all of this was almost free! We did have to pay for an arborist to inspect where the rain garden was to be installed.”
– Karen and Tom

Rain Garden (installed April 2011)
Design and Installation by Wenger Design
607sf Roof Runoff captured
$2428 Rebate
95% of total project cost (paid $125 for arborist, not eligible for rebate)

Two 205-gallon Cisterns (installed March 2012)
Installation by Bristow Enteprises
820sf Roof Runoff captured
$3280 Rebate
100% of total project cost

Tom hopes someday to connect the rainwater storage to greywater uses like the toilets and washing machine.