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Did you know that a heavy rain can dump 3,000 gallons of water on an area the size of a basketball court after only 15 minutes? Hard surfaces like basketball courts, roads, and sidewalks cannot absorb water. Instead, the water flows across it and becomes runoff. Think about all of the hard surfaces in a neighborhood or city that turn rainwater into runoff - cars, the roofs of buildings, even playgrounds! You might have noticed holes or grates in sidewalks and roads. These are called storm drains, and help collect runoff and lead it to nearby rivers or lakes. However, as the water flows over hard surfaces and towards the storm drains, it can pick up pollution like trash and fluids from cars. Then, it brings the pollution with it through the storm drain and into the lake or river. To help stop pollution in these areas, some people and cities plant rain gardens. Rain gardens have soil in them, which can absorb rain water! When the rain water is absorbed and the runoff is soaked up, the pollution is filtered out and doesn’t go to lakes and rivers.
