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Rain Barrels Reduce Pollution and Prevent Flooding!
When heavy rain and snowmelt wash over your yard and pavement, pollutants such as pet waste, fertilizer, pesticides, motor oil and dirt hitch a ride and head for the Huron River through the nearest storm drain. Unfiltered, untreated!
Rain barrels collect rainwater runoff from rooftops and allow you to direct it to gardens and lawns where it can be infiltrated by plants and soil instead of washing over pavement.
Rain barrels also slow the rapid flow of water that enters the Huron during heavy rains, helping to prevent volatile fluctuations that cause erosion.
You Save Water and Money!
Watering your garden and lawn takes up 40% of your household water during the summer. Using water from your rain barrel is free!
HRWC Rain Barrel Distribution
In the fall of 2007 and spring 2008 HRWC sponsored rain barrel sales during which 1,200 60-gallon rain barrels were distributed to watershed residents providing for the potential storage of 72,000 gallons of water each time it rains. At this time we are not planning another rain barrel sale.
Help Create Demand for Rain Barrels
We encourage all watershed residents to use rain barrels and know that they are not as easy to find as we would like. Ask your local hardware retailer to offer them for sale and let them know you’ll be the first buyer.
HRWC’s Rain Barrel Tips
Learn how to support, use overflow spouts, store for the winter, prevent mosquitoes and more.
Current Places to Purchase or Build Your Own
RainBarrelUSA - www.rainbarrelusa.com
Matthaei Botanical Gardens - www.lsa.umich.edu/mbg/about/ErosionControl.asp
Downtown Home & Garden - www.downtownhomeandgarden.com/store3.cfm?item_ID=85
Other Resources
Stormwater Rates and Credit System for Rain Barrels from the City of Ann Arbor
Rain Barrel & Rain Garden Information
from the City of Ann Arbor Systems Planning Unit
Rain Barrel Information from the Ecology Action Center
Installation Guide from the City of Seattle
Important Maintenance Components from the Low Impact Design Center, Inc.
Winter Tips & Maintenance Information from the City of Duluth and Lake Superior
Build Your Own Rain Barrel Instructions from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation
Contact Us
Know of a good source for rain barrels? Have been using a rain barrel and have some good suggestions? Share your info with us. Send an e-mail to Pam Labadie, HRWC Marketing Director, plabadie@hrwc.org.
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