From The Colorado Springs Gazette (Rachel Riley):
Twenty plastic barrels once used to ship Mountain Dew syrup were reborn on Saturday into water conservation tools for local gardeners.
The barrels, purchased from a recycled materials provider in Denver, were distributed at a “make and take” rain barrel event hosted by El Paso County’s Colorado State University Extension. The $60 class, the second that the local CSU Extension office has held since the state legalized the use of rain barrels last year, quickly filled up. Two more classes, already full, have been scheduled for the coming weeks.
Organizers said it’s a sign of residents’ growing curiosity about rain barrel use, which Colorado was one of the last states to allow. Under a law passed in May 2016, single-family homes are permitted two rain barrels with a combined storage capacity of up to 110 gallons. Rainwater can only be collected from rooftop downspouts and must be used on the same property where it was collected for outdoor purposes, such as watering lawns and gardens…
The CSU Extension estimates one rain barrel can save the average homeowner roughly 1,300 gallons of water during the hottest months of the summer, when landscape watering accounts for nearly 40 percent of all household water usage.
In addition to conserving water, collecting rainfall during downpours can help reduce the pressure on the city’s stormwater system, said Sean Holveck, who is in charge of marketing and events for The Greenway Fund of Colorado Springs.