Using rain gardens to educate the community about rainwater runoff is serious business at the 12 mgd (design) activated sludge wastewater treatment plant in Superior, Wis. Since 2003, the staff has built six rain gardens covering nearly 5,500 square feet, each with a different strategy to demonstrate versatility in location and size to citizens interested in building such gardens on their own property.
“The main purpose of a rain garden is to control rainwater runoff,” says Environmental Services Division research assistant Carrie Sanda, the plant’s community outreach and education coordinator. “They are much more effective in soaking up water than regular
