Seattle residents who are interested installing rain gardens or cisterns can meet with contractors at a free event Oct. 11 in the Phinney Ridge neighborhood of Seattle.

The RainWise Program offers eligible Seattle homeowners rebates that could cover up to 100 percent of the cost to install a rain garden or cistern.

Rain gardens are more than just beautiful to look at; they help solve one of the largest sources of pollution for Puget Sound by naturally cleaning and controlling stormwater. Cisterns are large rain barrels that collect runoff from rooftops, which homeowners can use for watering yards and landscaping.

The free RainWise "Meet the Contractor" Fair takes place on Oct. 11 from1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Phinney Neighborhood Association, 6532 Phinney Ave. N., Seattle (lower building on Dayton Ave., basement level).

The RainWise program will also host workshops in north Seattle workshops on Oct. 20 and 30. The 90-minute events will offer an orientation to the program, and will feature local homeowners who have completed the rebate process as well as RainWise contractors. To register go to www.tinyurl.com/RainWise.

To receive a rebate, residents must live in an eligible CSO basin. The RainWise Program serves a number of Seattle neighborhoods.

By encouraging north Seattle residents to manage stormwater runoff through the RainWise Program, King County and Seattle Public Utilities can meet their goals to reduce combined sewer overflows, or CSOs, that occur in the Lake Washington Ship Canal during heavy rains.

Additional information about King County’s CSO Control Program is available on the Web at www.kingcounty.gov/csocontrol.