24-02-2025
Rain barrel workshop encourages environmentally friendly practices
GRANGER, Iowa — A rain barrel workshop held at Jester Park on Sunday encouraged the community to think about environmentally friendly water practices.
Lewis Major, Polk County Conversation Naturalist, lead the workshop hoping to share his years of experience with the group. Major explained the mechanics and benefits of a rain barrel before helping them construct one of their own.
'I love it. I've been doing this for a long time, and I've put hundreds, if not thousands, of barrels in the community.,' said Major. 'You know, like I told the people, one barrel is not going to stop flooding, but a thousand or 10,000 that starts to add up.'
Rain barrels capture water runoff from a roof and hold it for later use. This helps reduce the amount of water that flows from the property and can help contain flooding during periods of heavy rain.
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'50, 55 gallons at a time over a course of 20 years doing this and getting a thousand barrels in the community helps to kind of slow that flooding down and people get to use free water,' said Major.'
While the water can't be ingested, there are dozens of ways it can be used. According to Home Solutions Iowa, you can water gardens and flowers, wash vehicles, cleaning siding, fill the pool, wash pets and more.
According to Project Rain Barrel, a 55-gallon rain barrel can save up to 1,300 gallons of water each year.
If you would like to make your own rain barrel you can contact Polk County Conservation for instructions.
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