Enter to Win Free Rain Barrel from City

Des Plaines is giving out free rain barrels by lottery, and the deadline to enter to win is Friday. Click here to enter online.

The 98 terra cotta colored rain barrels were purchased from the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago with a $5,000 sustainability grant, according to Jon Duddles, assistant director of .

Residents must enter to win, and only one barrel will be granted to each household, according to a press release. Winners will be notified the week of Nov. 7, and the rain barrels can be picked up at the , 1111 Joseph J. Schwab (Campground) Road.

Earlier:

Duddles said this is the first them the city has had the program, and they have received more than 300 applications so far. He said the barrels were a good thing for a number of reasons.

First, residents can conserve water, and use rainwater instead of water from Lake Michigan to water gardens and lawns, he said. Second, though it’s a relatively small amount, the 55-gallon rain barrels also decrease the amount of water going into the storm water system.

“It’s not a big amount of water, but any amount helps,” Duddles said.

Duddles said homeowners would just have to modify their downspouts in order to install the rain barrels.

“[Residents] are obviously showing interest in it since we’ve gotten over 300 requests, and the price is right,” Duddles said.

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