Wanted: Residents to recycle water

By Jon Brodkin
Milford Daily News Staff

The Charles River Watershed Association is looking for Bellingham residents to test a product it developed that it hopes will improve river quality by recycling water from downspouts.

While the group wants to give the product, called SmartStorm, to about 30 to 40 homeowners in Bellingham, it is also talking to officials in Franklin, Hudson, Cambridge, and Boston about establishing test sites in those communities, said Executive Director Bob Zimmerman.

The association wants to begin testing in Bellingham by the end of June.  Anyone who's interested in participating can go to the association's web site, crwa.org.

SmartStorm consists of two partially buried 400-gallon storage tanks that catch water from rood drains, preventing it from running over pavement and bringing oil and other contaminants into storm drains and ultimately the river.

While the Bellingham residents will get SmartStorm for free, the $200-dollar products will be available for sale in small quantities to others this summer, but Zimmerman said they won't be widely available until next year.

The watershed group will study the impact on the amount of water going into storm drains, and water-quality in the tanks, Zimmerman said.

The SmartStorm system would divert some water into the ground, increasing groundwater supplies, and store water for homeowners' use.  

Residents could save money by watering lawns with the stored water, and take pressure off municipal water systems, Zimmerman said.  Bellingham Department of Public Works Director Donald DiMartino, excited about the system, predicted it could benefit the town greatly if even half its homeowners used the system.

Zimmerman hopes that towns and cities along the Charles River will eventually buy the product for their residents.  It would be to their benefit, he said, because SmartStorm could cut down so much on pollution to the river that it would allow local governments to avoid costlier projects they are required to complete.

The Charles earned a "B" rating from the Environmental Protection Agency this year meaning fishers and swimmers may use it safely during dry weather.  Trouble arises during and after rainstorms, however, and the Watershed Association aims to eliminate that problem by 2005.