Free Rain Barrels Help Save Money, Sewers

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Kathleen Farrell is planning a big garden for her back yard.

"We're thinking of growing our own tomatoes, some herbs, maybe some lettuce," she says. There will also be planters on the deck and a lush lawn to maintain. It'll all need water. Lots of water. And this year, Kat will get that water for free.

She's part of a pilot program in the Clintonville area. Nearly 250 rain barrels will be distributed among 137 homes. The program is a joint project of the Friends of the Lower Olentangy Watershed (FLOW) and the City of Columbus.

The city hopes the rain barrels will collect enough rain water to take a load off the more-than-century-old sewer system. Residents will be able to use the saved water for plants, lawns, car washing, etc.

"The city knows that it has an existing infiltration problem where the storm water is getting into the sanitary sewers," says FLOW's Heather Dean. "This program will allow the city to study the effects of having a lot of rain barrels in one, small, concentrated area."

Through the program, they hope to have solid data showing the barrels actually reduce the amount of water going into the sewer system after a heavy rainfall.

Jonathan Meier, one of the co-owners of Rain Brothers, the company helping install the rain barrels, says they are easy to install and even easier to use.

"In fact, the barrel comes with the hole saw so all a homeowner needs is a drill," he says. Once a hole is drilled in the downspout, a diverter is inserted to direct the water to the barrel's intake hose. When the barrel is full, the excess water can either be directed back to the sewer drains or to a runoff hose into the yard.

Plus, Meier says, the rain water is better for plants. "It's not chlorinated so the plants respond much better to it. And it's easy to use and it saves money."

"We have a hose and spigot set up, but free is better!" says Farrell. She also says the sign-up process was easy. "The most difficult part was just deciding to fill out the form and send it in. That was really the hardest part."

The pilot program's free rain barrels are only for residents in the Clintonville test area. They were donated by EarthMinded, a subsidiary of Greif, Inc., which is a packaging company headquartered in Delaware.

Rain barrel workshops are available for all Columbus residents and barrels are offered at a discounted price of only $30. But FLOW's Rain Barrel Workshops have been so popular, they're already full for 2010. There is a waiting list to sign up and the group is actively looking for funding to add more workshops.

Rain Brothers Sustainable Irrigation sells and installs rain barrels.
Friends of the Lower Olentangy Watershed runs the rain barrel workshops and the city's pilot program.
City of Columbus Water Conservation and Pollution Prevention Info

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