When rainwater falls off your rooftop, it runs into gutters and downspouts and then either soaks into the soils of the surrounding landscape or flows into the street. The water that ends up in the street is called storm water. Excess storm water carries a wide variety of pollutants such as gasoline, motor oil, heavy metals, trash, and urban fertilizers and pesticides from lawns.

Rain barrels are typically positioned at the bottom of your gutter downspouts, which help collect water from an impervious surface (your roof) at the source, before it has a chance to pick up any additional pollutants from streets or parking lots, and then carrying it to streams and rivers.  You can also combine the rain barrel so the overflow drains into a well-designed rain garden to help further reduce the runoff volume and contaminants getting into the streams. 

The Fillmore SWCD offers an EZ-2-Assemble Rain Barrel Kit for $40.

You can order it through our tree order form and also order it at our office anytime during the year. Barrels can be painted or decorated as desired. Most commercially available rain barrel systems can cost 2 to 3 times more than what the SWCD offers. We can also help you design a custom rainwater collection system depending upon your situation.  Systems have been designed for homes, schools, cemeteries, and businesses. We have even designed systems that utilize multiple 275-gallon containers in a series that stored water for future use at a community garden.