Barreling along, thanks to helpful comments

This post was written by John Bennett

January 21, 2008

Robby, Jane and Steven offered excellent comments about rain barrels, which contained considerably more useful information than the original post.

As Robby suggested, the local Fresca cannery is probably a good source of barrels, as it must surely use oxcart after oxcart of them in the effort to satisfy Savannah’s thirst for corn syrup- and aspartame-infused bubbling tonics. I was close to following up on his tip, when I spied some barrels positioned in a way that suggested they awaited pick-up by the sanitation department. If my perception of their availability was incorrect, I’m afraid I may have stolen a barrel.

At any rate, I’m not sure if I’ll be as ambitious as Steven, who’s really serious about his rain barrel systems. He writes:

“One will be a self contained ‘green well’ system that will capture rainwater from my greenhouse roof and be used actively for a utility sink. The gray water from that will then be pumped to a tower of plants/soil that will filter the water and make it suitable for the irrigation of my garden/plants. I am still in the early stages of planning this system and have a lot to do in order to make it functional, including building the greenhouse. There will also be a lot of time spent engineering the holding tanks and pump systems as well as selecting the proper plants and orientation.”

Please keep us posted on your progress, Steven.

Jane provided a link to the MPC Natural Reources page. I’ll follow up to see if they have kits left. Here’s hoping she can help everyone understand the purpose of her rain barrel, which she says is located in a “very public spot, only 8 feet from the road.” Her barrel seems to be victim of a case of mistaken identity:

“I had trouble with someone, perhaps sanitation engineers, dumping my barrel! I tied it to the building until I had time to paint it with rain drops and flowers. But that still didn’t get the message across because it got dumped again on garbage day last week.”

I’m sure this is very frustrating for Jane, but it could have been worse. At least her harmless container wasn’t mistaken for a implement of terrorism.

Finally, it looks like rain barrels are on the agenda for this year’s Earth Day celebration in Forsyth Park. According to the the city’s Earth Day Web page, participants can, “learn how a rain barrel can help you save money and water.” Advance sign-up for barrels is required. More information is available here.

Posted in Conservation, Water