Demand For Rain Barrels Up During Water Bans

By Ron Sanders

WBZ TV, Friday, July 16, 2010

Peabody - It's been busier than normal at New England Rain Barrel in Peabody where demand had dropped after record rains in March.

Now that lawns are browning in a hotter than usual July, demand there is up at least 50 percent. 

"The phone is starting to ring off the hook.  And with this partnership with the Charles River Watershed, we're really expecting sales to take off in the next several weeks," said Jack Freele, president of the company.  

The rain barrels are being sold through the Charles River Watershed Association at a wholesale price of $80, versus $120 retail, in communities such as Franklin where a mandatory water ban allows only hand-held hoses on plants and vegetables. 

"We try to pay attention to water and conserve.  Now we're looking at the brown lawn but it's summer. It's July," said Franklin resident John Chaffee.  

"The only thing you can really do is drop a well on your own and put in a sprinkler system," said Lori Chaffee, John's wife.  

Some people have put in wells, others violate the ban, but not many in the town where rapid growth in the 1990s led to strict water restrictions.  

Normally, Franklin residents can water their lawns one day a week, on the same day as their trash pick-up.  

"And I'd say we have 95 percent compliance," explained Franklin Town Administrator Jeff Nutting, pointing out a computer in the public works department that monitors water levels in the town's tanks.  

"If you were here last week, you would have seen those blues half way to three-quarters of the way down and we needed to get those up for fire protection and obviously domestic use," he said. 

$25 million in improvements over the past decade have reduced consumption in Franklin to less than 65 gallons per person per day.  

Nutting says the rain barrels will help residents, but also reduce polluted runoff into the Charles River watershed from less efficient sprinklers.  

"By using a rain barrel, watering directly and slowly, the same amount of water is getting to your plants but you're not wasting as much water," said Joan Freele of New England Rain Barrel, which will be making their products available in Ashland and Brookline as well as Franklin.  

How long will outdoor water bans such as Franklin's last?  

The Town Administrator says maybe if we get two weeks of rain, his town could go back to restricted watering. 

For more information and to place your order, call The New England Rain Barrel Company toll free at 877-977-3135 or order online at www.nerainbarrel.com. 

Orders must be placed by July 26, 2010 and picked up on Wednesday, July 28  from  4 to 7 p.m. the at Charles River Watershed Association's office adjacent to the Leo J Martin Golf Course, 190 Park Rd Weston.

Click here for additional pick up dates.

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