The Utah Rivers Council is happy to announce that Sandy City, Murray City, Park City and Ogden are making discounted, $40 rain barrels available to their residents to save water.
RainHarvest is Utah’s first rainwater collection program aimed at reducing water use and improving water quality by encouraging residents to collect rainwater, which is legal in Utah.
RainHarvest is for residents of Murray, Sandy, Park City and Ogden who can purchase rain barrels for a greatly subsidized price of just $40, (quantities are limited). Rain barrels are also available for just $75 for residents outside these cities, a significant discount from the barrel’s $129 retail price. Residents can pre-order discounted rain barrels at www.savesomethingutah.org.
"Saving water is everyone’s responsibility” said Sandy Mayor Tom Dolan. “If we each make an effort it will make a large difference in our overall conservation goal for our future" said Mayor Dolan.
“This program is an important step toward conserving and protecting clean water in our community because it offers an inexpensive and proven option to help people make a difference in their own backyards.” said Amy Wicks, Ogden City Council Member.
“Park City values our natural environment, and we are excited to help implement this program” said Park City Mayor Jack Thomas. “Rain barrels help reduce the volume of drinking water used to irrigate landscapes, while also decreasing stream runoff peaks. Otherwise, it all goes downhill from there” said Mayor Thomas.
“Harvesting the rain can help us reduce demand on our municipal systems,” said Murray Mayor Ted Eyre. “We want to do everything we can to help residents conserve water” said Mayor Eyre.
Barrels purchased online will be available for pick up in late August where volunteers will be on hand to teach residents about rainwater harvesting and other water conservation strategies.
Many U.S. cities provide incentives for residents to purchase rain barrels because rainwater harvesting reduces water demand and improve water quality. The program partners hope more Utah municipalities will join the program to make barrels available for their own residents. The George S. & Dolores Eccles Foundation is supporting this water conservation program.
“This is the 4thyear of drought and we are thrilled to have new partners to help encourage Utahns to start capturing this free, legal water at their homes and businesses,” said Nick Schou, Conservation Director for Utah Rivers Council. “Park City, Sandy, Murray and Ogden are serious about using our water supplies wisely and should be commended for their leadership.”
Utah is America’s biggest water user (per-person) according to U.S.G.S. and rain barrels are one of many tools Utahns can use to reduce our high water use. Over 1000 barrels were purchased through RainHarvest last May, meaning that 50,000 gallons of water are saved with every good rainstorm. Capturing rainwater also improves water quality by storing water on site and preventing urban runoff from flowing through streets and gutters and washing pollutants into streams and lakes.
