Stories from our partner congregations
The solar water pump that powers a drip irrigation system.
The South Church
American Baptist - Mt. Prospect , IL
If you HAVE: Congregation members at South Church have a beautiful 60x50 foot garden, with 20 rows, where they grow vegetables for the local food pantry (CEDA Northwest). They were watering by hand using the municipal water supply, but wanted to move to a method that would allow them to stop relying on city water. So they began a collaboration with Garden Green EcoSolutions, LLC, to see what could be done.
And you ADD: In an effort to water the garden with only rainwater, the church added a rainwater irrigation system. It harvests rainwater from their building, stores it, and transmits it to drip pipes that snake through the rows of produce. However, collection tanks had to be located in a spot where the roof does not provide enough runoff to fill them, and a downspout that does provide enough volume was 50ft away. So Garden Green installed a pump, charged by a 15-watt solar panel, to pump water from this downspout over to the containers. It waters the plants beautifully, uses minimal water, and requires much fewer volunteer hours.
Then you GET: This sun-and-rain equation gave The South Church about 3200G of rainwater over the course of the season. That garnered 1600 pounds of produce to feed the hungry in the first year. In year two, the yield was 2100 pounds. Pastor Rick Kesler says, “Engaging in hands-on local mission work is one of The South Church’s most important goals. We are delighted that Garden Green has provided us with a rain-watered solar-powered system that allows us to grow our organic garden in an environmentally sustainable way.”
