If you live in a house in our neighbourhood, do you have a downspout that doesn’t empty into your garden or lawn, like the image above? You should consider having it disconnected, taking advantage of the City’s Mandatory Downspout Disconnection Program:

• Disconnecting your home’s downspout so it directly waters the lawn or garden, or goes into a rain barrel for use later, saves both water and money.
• Diverting your downspout away from your home’s foundation helps reduce the risk of basement flooding.
• Disconnecting your downspout so it is no longer directly connected to the sewer system helps keep the City of Toronto’s storm sewers from overloading during heavy rain.
• The program also offers eligible households financial assistance for downspout disconnection, where some costs could be reimbursed.