Achi news desk-
As Calgarians prepare for possible water restrictions this summer, the city is facing a rain barrel shortage.
People lined up Saturday morning in the parking lot of the Dalhousie Co-op at a Green Calgary rain barrel sale.
The auction wasn’t originally scheduled to start until 10am, but some people were there at 6am determined to go home with a highly coveted keg.
For those who came later, the high demand rained on their parade. They went away empty handed and on the waiting list.
“With the forecast for drought and very little rain this summer, I thought I’ll do what I can and come get a rain barrel, but I was too late,” said Calgary resident Rowena Campbell , who added that she is now on hold. list.
“I would say the demand for rain barrels this year is unprecedented,” said Lex van der Raadt, executive director of Green Calgary.
Sales organizers had definitely anticipated an increase in demand, van der Raadt said. “But we didn’t anticipate such a high increase as there is. I think a lot of that is that people are worried about drought and we don’t know what water restrictions will look like.”
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Green Calgary said some additional sales will be coming in May.
With no sign of sales drying up, van der Raadt said Green Calgary is working with the City of Calgary and has ordered barrels from Ontario for the first time.
“Ours needs to be built so we’re doing that throughout April, May and June and that’s still ongoing,” explained van der Raadt.
“The city helps us get additional raw product to build. Then we also have pre-builts that come from another company that outsells what we have and they’re going to bring them in from Ontario. “
Green Calgary rain barrels have been used for food products that have been upcycled as rain barrels.
On Saturday, some old rain barrels were given an extended life as people brought them to the Dalhousie car park for repairs.
“I don’t want to throw this in the landfill,” said Doug Borras, who was happy to fix his 30-year-old rain barrel.
The man doing the repair work on Saturday was Dirk Struck, better known as Calgary’s barrel man.
He’s been converting food-grade barrels into rain barrels specifically designed to handle the prairie climate for 25 years, but he said he’s never been this busy with repairs or supplies.
“Our ancestors have always done this, saving water,” Struck said. “It’s very nice to see this. You can’t go wrong with water that comes from the sky.”
Green Calgary is hopeful that everyone who wants a rain barrel this year will get one.
“The city of Calgary is very committed to trying to make sure everyone who wants a keg gets one by the end of June,” said van der Raadt.
& copy 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
