Conservation Advisory Council 110 Bracken Road Montgomery, NY 12549
First Wednesday of the Month 6:30PM Walden Village Hall (2nd Floor)
Did you know?...By storing water for later use, a rain barrel can save homeowners up to 1,300 gallons of water during the peak summer months (EPA, 2009).
Benefits for garden, house, and personal use:
• Watering lawns and gardens can account for 40% of household water use in the summer. Using water from rain barrels for watering can conserve well water and reduce municipal water consumption during dry periods.
• Water from rain barrels contains no chlorine or chloramines and is safe for use on sensitive plants.
• Saving tap water saves money!
Benefits for the community and the Hudson Valley:
• In many areas, stormwater, and wastewater both flow into a combined sewer system. Large quantities of stormwater can overwhelm the system and cause sewers to overflow into nearby streams. Collecting rainwater reduces the burden on the sewer system and helps prevent overflow.
• Water traveling over impervious surfaces can pick up contaminants (such as fertilizers, pesticides, heavy metals, suspended particles, and oils and greases from cars), and transport them into nearby streams. Rain barrels help divert water and prevent contamination.
• Diverting rainfall reduces the volume of runoff that ends up in streams. This helps mitigate flooding and erosion that can occur after storms.
For those that want to paint pictures on your barrel, first prime it with Zinser 1-2-3 (blue can) and follow with a coat of interior/exterior grade acrylic paint for a base coat.
You can also prime your rain barrel with Krylon Fusion spray paint for plastics. Then when it is dry, use acrylic paint (found in any craft or art supply store) to paint your own personal design. After the paint is dry you may want to spray the entire painted barrel with a clear matte or gloss finish.
The Town of Montgomery CAC held Rain Barrel Workshops in 2012 & 2013.
Starting in May 2012, we had a rain barrel on display in the lobby of the Town of Montgomery Town Hall and at the Joesphine Louis Public Library. The cost was $15, thanks to a grant from the Community Catalyst Fund: Clean Air/Cool Planet, Portsmouth, NH. All equipment and tools were provided by the CAC for making and taking home their own rain barrel.
We raffled off 2 rain barrels, which had been painted by local artist, at our July 16th Workshop. Everyone that signed up for a workshop was eligible to win one of them. The picture to the left is one of the barrels that was raffled and was painted by local artist, Paula Leather of Walden, New York. The photo on the right is the rain barrel painted by local artist Michele Farrell.
Our last rain barrel workshop for 2012 was held in Maybrook on July 16th. The rain barrel workshops were a great success and with a total of 62 barrels distributed to the public. We are looking into doing more in 2013. After the workshop, we raffled off the 2 rain barrels painted by our local artist.
The following participants won the raffles:
Janice Ool of Middletown won the barrel painted by artist Paula Leather.
Karen Levins from New Hampton won the barrel painted by artist, Michele Farrell.
2 Rain Barrel workshops were held during the Spring of 2013. The Cost was $15 (Cash only). Sign up was at the Town of Montgomery Clerk's office. There was a limit of 15 participants per workshop.