Rainwater Harvest System BHAVIKA

M.

For my Silver Award Project, I wanted to do something useful for the school and students in younger grades. I reached out to the Valley Forge Middle School administration to discuss a few potential project ideas; they mentioned that the school vegetable garden needed improving. When I visited the garden, I saw that all the plants looked pretty dried up. I discovered that the volunteers taking care of the garden did not have a direct source of water from the school, and instead, they had to bring water all the way from their homes. They struggled just to water the plants every day. Once I heard their story, I decided to help them. Of the many ideas I researched, I found one solution that stood out from the rest: a rainwater harvest system. I learned that some homes in dry regions use rainwater harvest systems to gain access to a free source of water: rain. The idea is simple in theory; however, the real challenge was that I had to engineer a new system for a garden which had no roof or elevated surface nearby. I needed to make water easily and directly accessible, even over the summer.

We completed the construction of the rainwater harvest system without compromising on the sunlight and aesthetics of the garden area. In order to test it, we had to wait a few days for the next rain. After the skies cleared, we saw the rainwater harvest system was fully operational! It was incredible to see the rain barrels filled to the brim with water and the garden self-sustained. The gardening volunteers were so excited to see water stored inside the garden, and now their daily mission of watering the plants has become much easier. The efforts of my team, the support of my parents and encouragement from my troop leaders helped make this project come to fruition.

The GSEP girl award program gave me an opportunity to realize my potential to come up with a creative idea to improve my community.

The system is now being maintained and taken care of by the school’s current students. I’m glad that my Silver Award project has had so much of a positive impact in my community.