Umbrella? Got it. Rain boots? Got ‘em. Rain barrel — wait, you don’t have a rain barrel?
Well, you can buy one now! This week, through Sunday March 5, county residents can order a discounted, top-of-the-line, $90, Ivy rain barrel online, thanks to the County of San Diego’s Watershed Protection Program and the Solana Center. You can also apply for $35 rebate from the Metropolitan Water District that could shrink the cost of that rain barrel to $55.
Then you could use your rain barrel to “harvest” some of that rain that’s been running off your roof, use it to keep your gardens and lawns green the old-fashioned way, cut your water costs and even help protect local beaches by preventing excess rain from carrying pollution down our streets to the ocean.
This is the winter to do it. It’s been one of the wettest in memory and we still have a couple of potentially rainy months ahead of us.
Here’s all you have to do. Purchase your $90 Ivy rain barrel online at the County/Solana Center website. Scroll down, click on the “Buy Now” link and pay by credit card. When you’re finished, print out your confirmation email so you can bring it with you to pick up your rain barrel. The deadline to order is 11 p.m. Sunday, March 5.
Your rain barrel will not be shipped or mailed to you. Instead, everyone will pick up their rain barrels between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturday, March 11, at the Lakeside River Park Conservancy, located at 10354 Channel Road in Lakeside. Bring your printed-out confirmation email with you to get your rain barrel.
There are a couple of things to remember. You can order as many rain barrels as you want, but you must pay for your barrel ahead of time. You cannot order a barrel and pay when you pick it up at the March 11 event. You also have to pick up your rain barrel(s) at the March 11 event. We can’t guarantee holding your barrel for pickup at a later time. All sales are final.
To check to see if you qualify for the $35 discount — once you’ve installed your rain barrel — go to Metropolitan’s SoCal WaterSmart web page. Rebates are limited to two per household.
Each of the Ivy rain barrels is made of 100 percent recycled materials and comes with everything you’ll need to start harvesting rain off your roof, including lids with screens to keep mosquitoes out, overflow hoses to keep the barrels from spilling over and spigots to attach irrigation hoses to.
For more information, go to the Solana Center’s website.
