Rain Barrels; Saving Money While Helping The Environment

For more information or to sign up for a rain barrel workshop, call Christine Hannen at (276) 628-8187, extension 3.

DAMASCUS, Va. – Got water?

A local woman has been awarded a national fellowship to help people collect and use the rainwater that falls on their roofs.

Christine Hannen, a 29-year-old conservation educator for the Holston River Soil and Water Conservation District, says she will host a series of workshops to help people construct rain barrels, or cisterns, that will enable them to save money while helping the environment.

“All of our houses have guttering systems already set up,” Hannen said. “The water is going somewhere. We might as well collect it and use it.”

She said excess storm runoff is associated with a host of problems, from erosion of soil and clouding of streams to entry of pollutants into the water supply.

At the same time, she said, homeowners who collect the water can save money by using it to water trees, landscaping and gardens, wash cars and for other outdoor uses.

“We planted 32 trees in our yard, and 100 percent of the water for the trees and our landscaping came from the rain barrel, which is pretty good considering we haven’t had much rain this year,” said Hannen, who said she and her husband began using a rain barrel last spring.

“We were able to save a lot of money that way. That’s what’s very nice about this: it’s economical.”

She said it’s also an alternative water source for those whose wells have gone dry in a time of drought. She hopes the fellowship will help make rain barrels – and water – affordable.

“We know a lot of people who had to let the gardens go this year because they didn’t want to spend the money on water,” Hannen said, noting that rain barrels typically sell for at least $60. “My goal was to make them available to everyone, not just the select few who can afford it.”

She said the 55-gallon barrels used in the three-hour workshops are donated by local dairy farmers and industries that no longer need them; with a barrel in hand, the cost of rain barrel construction is relatively cheap.

Other than the barrel, a plastic colander to filter out debris and mosquitoes, an overflow tube and a hose nozzle are required. Workshop participants have the opportunity to build one to take home.

Hannen said that with outdoor water use often comprising 40 percent of a homeowner’s water and sewer bill, the demand for rain barrels to reduce that use is growing in the area.

“It’s really kind of an old idea, a basic, simple idea, and we need to go back to that,” Hannen said. “This is easy. I can conserve water, and it doesn’t have to change my life.
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Her parents, Bob and Diane Smith, say they also have been able to take care of their outdoor water needs this year with a rain barrel at Dancing Bear’s Getaway, a bed and breakfast on Laurel Avenue in downtown Damascus.

Diane Smith said she remembers collecting rainwater from the roof as a child for bathing, washing clothes – everything but drinking – after the family’s well went dry due to blasting for interstate construction.

She said the concept still works today.

Hannen said she hopes that with the spread of knowledge and “simple cistern” know-how, Damascus can do what a few other communities have done in recent years with rain barrels: take the concept and run with it.

The town of Berea, Ky., for example, was host to a Rain Barrel Festival this year to celebrate and promote not only the use of rain barrels, but also the artists who turn them into pieces of functional art.

Hannen’s $10,000 fellowship is through TogetherGreen, a new initiative this year by Audubon, which awarded 40 fellowships nationwide. Audubon spokeswoman Taryn Martinez said the fellowships are “to kind of fund the next generation of environmental leaders.”

They are part of a $20 million donation to that organization from Toyota and geared to produce what Martinez called “tangible conservation results.”

In this case, she said, 1 inch of rainfall on a 1,000-square-foot roof means 600 gallons of water that don’t have to wind up in a storm drain. She said Hannen has a history of environmental work that benefits the community – and people like her will shape the future.

“I guess in these times it’s really important to continue investing in the leaders and innovators of today because ... it needs to pay off with a healthier tomorrow for everyone,” Martinez said.

“There’s so many environmental challenges facing us in the future, if we don’t try to tackle them now and support the people who can tackle them now … there really won’t be a future.”

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