EcoLakewood's November meeting was held at the Lakewood Library with a healthy attendance and good session of idea sharing and suggestions. Here are the brief updates.Bill Corrigan, Division Manager and Lead City Engineer, was the guest speaker that underscored the importance, challenges and potential solutions related to our city sewer/storm water system. While the city is devising strategies to re-manage and mitigate problems associated with regional water/sewer overflows to Lake Erie (common for most NEO cities), simple solutions were discussed on how to educate Lakewood residents.
First, disconnecting down spouts will help in delaying the large amounts of water that is transferred from our storm/sewer system to the water treatment plants. While going to the source, the residential homes, is the primary approach, many are just not aware that our system needs a major upgrade. Target areas in Lakewood are on a combined sewer and storm system, which have significant overflow of sludge, storm water and other organic compounds to Lake Erie. Secondly, rain barrels and rain gardens are ecological, low-tech solutions that can assist with water diversion control. Again, universal city access to rain barrels may not be an overnight option; however, large Cleveland entities such as Great Lakes Brewery, Progressive Field and Horizons, Inc. are giving away free rain barrels on a first come first serve basis. The discussion wrapped up with a short Q&A session, followed by a proposed suggestion to host a workshop that educates residents about connecting rain barrels with the help of LEAF, LakewoodAlive and E4S. More community updates will be shared as events unfold for our citizens, business owners and local institutions.
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