Calgary environmental charity offers tips for winterizing your rain barrel - Calgary

An environmental charity in Calgary is urging Calgarians to keep their rain barrels in mind as they winterize the inside and outside of their homes before the first snowfall.

According to Green Calgary, the province’s harsh winters can take a toll on things such as rain barrels and by winterizing them, it prevents the barrel from cracking and keeps them functioning properly for years.

To winterize your barrel, it recommends:

Remove any hose attachments and store for next spring
Turn the barrel upside down and drain completely
Lightly rinse the barrel from any summer build up that could have accumulated during the summer.
If you can, store barrels in a shed or garage.
Barrels left outside should be left upside down and secured to prevent damage and water accumulation.

Get breaking National news

For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.

“These things can last a lot of years,” says Green Calgary executive director Lex Van Der Raadt.

Story continues below advertisement

“We say sort of an average of seven, but they can last a lot longer if you take care of it and a big part of that is making sure you take care of it in the winter so that it doesn’t crack. This is particularly important in Calgary; we just have all that freeze-thaw that does a number of these things.”

Green Calgary says there remains an ongoing demand for rain barrels since the spring when it saw a 200 per cent increase in sales over previous years.