People looking for a way to save money on their water utility bill can find one Saturday at rain-barrel distribution efforts in Austin and Albert Lea to promote water conservation.

From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, 1,000 rain barrels will be distributed in Austin and won’t be available after the event is done. Similar barrels sell for more than $130 a piece but, due to local sponsorship from the Cedar River Watershed District and others, the barrels are available for $60 each. Austin Utilities customers also can use a $10 rebate.

The overall rain barrel effort is focused on promoting water conservation and giving homeowners a chance to store and use natural rain water, said Justin Hanson, resource specialist with the CRWD. Rain barrels are an efficient, convenient way of trapping the runoff from your roof and storing it in a 55-gallon barrel.

Each barrel comes with a spigot on the bottom and overflow hoses to hook up multiple barrels. They hold roughly up to 55 gallons of rainwater, for distributing water around your yard.

Sponsors of the event include the Cedar River Watershed District, Mower County Soil and Water Conservation District, Austin Utilities; Izaak Walton League and the Austin A.C.E.S. group. Albert Lea will have an event at the Northbridge Mall during the same hours Saturday.

CRWD staff pursued a rain-barrel program because the CRWD is charged with and concerned about water treatment throughout the watershed. Much of the CRWD’s focus is on flood reduction but the district is promoting water conservation as an important activity for preserving long-term water use.

Diverting water from storm drains also decreases the effect of runoff on the watershed’s rivers and streams.

“We highly recommend anyone who wants to purchase a rain barrel to come early Saturday because they could go fast based on similar distributions done in other cities,” Hanson said.

Water conservation can be accomplished in numerous ways, ranging from watering your lawn less to taking shorter showers.

Rain barrels – often the best option for watering plants – have become a popular, easy-to-use and effective way to store rain water. They are designed specifically to capture rain runoff from gutters and drains and hold it for use around your garden or flowers in and around your house; they also remove stress from the local water supply.