Rain barrels
This article was printed in the May issue of Troy Talk Newsletter
Spring is among us and we are again thinking of yards, gardens, and consuming water for everyday summer activities. Now is the time to look into installing rain barrels to help with the cost of higher water usage and to help with conservation of our most precious resource.
- Rain barrels conserve water and help lower costs (a rain barrel can save approximately 1,300 gallons of water during peak summer months).
- Rain barrels reduce water pollution by reducing stormwater runoff, which can contain pollutants like sediment, oil, grease, bacteria and nutrients.
- Rain barrels are inexpensive and easy to build and install
What is a rain barrel?
A rain barrel collects and stores rainwater from rooftops to use later for lawn and garden watering. Water collected in a rain barrel would normally pour off your roof directly or flow through roof gutter downspouts and become stormwater runoff. Depending on your yard, this runoff can travel onto paved surfaces and eventually into a storm drain.
Here are some helpful websites to give you more information. You can search for rain barrels on the internet or find them at your local garden supply and hardware stores. A rain barrel can simply be a garbage can that sits under a downspout or heavy runoff point from your roof. It does not have to be expensive or fancy. Here are some websites with good information on them:
http://dnr.metrokc.gov/wlr/pi/rainbarrels.htm
http://www.harvesth2o.com/faq.shtml
http://www.uri.edu/ce/healthylandscapes/rainbsources.html
Brought to you by Troy Horizons Water Committee
For more information, contact Shishona @ 835-5049, shishonathurston@hotmail.com