Conservation News
Conservationist saves water old-fashioned way
By Dinah Voyles Pulver, [email protected]
DEBARY -- Mac McShea calls himself "just another guy in the 'hood," but the gospel he's preaching is water conservation and his only weapon is a 56-gallon barrel. Five barrels, actually.
His enemy is water waste. He uses the barrels to capture rain to water the plants in his yard. Now he's helping arm his neighbors and the message is spreading quickly. He put his barrels up about two months ago and already three of his neighbors are following his lead.
It rained twice in May at McShea's DeBary home. Each time he measured about 1.25 inches of rain and captured about 224 gallons of water.
It's not a new approach. People have been catching rain for centuries in cisterns. But with the advent of modern plumbing, people got away from it. Now, the practice is catching on again.
A Cooperative Extension Service agent in Pasco County teaches classes on rain barrels. The city of Vancouver, British Columbia, is active in a rain barrel program and more than 2,000 of the city's residents use the barrels in their yards.
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