April 25, 2025

Rain in North Texas. We often get a torrent for several days, followed by weeks without. Many towns have water restrictions that limit how often we can run our sprinklers. With summer on the horizon, how do we plan for the hot and dry weather to come?

One solution, says Betsy Marsh, conservation supervisor with the Tarrant Regional Water District (TRWD), is a do-it-yourself rain barrel. 

Marsh and the TRWD Conservation Team have helped several area cities, schools and youth centers install rain barrels on their campuses. 

SAVING OUR WATER SUPPLY

TRWD is one of the three largest wholesale water suppliers in DFW. The other two are Dallas Water Utilities and North Texas Municipal Water District.

The Tarrant Regional Water District provides raw (untreated) water to more than 30 wholesale customers in 11 North Texas counties, totaling more than 2.5 million people. Its primary customers are Arlington, Fort Worth, Mansfield and the Trinity River Authority. 

TRWD supplies water from four reservoirs including Cedar Creek, Richland Chambers, Eagle Mountain Lake and Lake Bridgeport. It also manages 250 miles of pipelines and three parks, as well as more than 100 miles of trails.

In addition to the business side, TRWD supports and educates customers on water issues, including the importance of water conservation.

“Conservation,” says Marsh, “is a supply strategy. It saves money and benefits our communities and the environment.” 

North Texas cities are growing fast and the population in this region is expected to reach over 14 million by 2070, she says. 

“Water conservation helps ensure we have enough water to meet demands and postpones costly infrastructure projects.”

RAINING BUCKETS

A single 10 x 12 shed roof can catch more than 60 gallons in a one-inch rainfall. Pictured Fuller Child Development Center in Fort Worth. Courtesy of TRWD.

So how does a rain barrel work and how long does it take to fill?

Simply put: a rain barrel captures rainwater from a roof and stores it for later use. 

The Environmental Protection Agency notes that “collecting roof runoff in rain barrels reduces the amount of water that flows from your property. It's a great way to conserve water and it's free water for use in your landscape… Cisterns are also used to harvest rainwater.”

Homeowners can catch a lot of rainwater too. A single 10 x 12 shed roof can catch more than 60 gallons in a one-inch rainfall. In the rainy month of May, that small, shed roof can catch nearly 350 gallons. A 2,000-square-foot house roof can catch nearly 39,000 gallons of rainwater in one year based on our average rainfall.

WORKSHOPS

TRWD offers a number of rainwater harvesting programs for adults and kids. Through their Learn and Grow program, cities can request DIY rain barrel classes for their residents. Marsh says TRWD provides about 400-500 rain barrels a year for its customer cities. TRWD offers rebates too — they subsidize the cost to make it more affordable. 

TRWD offers a number of rainwater harvesting programs for adults and kids. Through their Learn and Grow program, cities can request DIY rain barrel classes for their residents.

On May 3, TRWD is hosting a DIY Rainwater Harvesting Workshop at University Christian Church, 2720 S. University Drive in Fort Worth at 10 a.m. to noon. Participants can build their own rainbarrel to take home. Cost is $25. Register.

On May 15, a DIY Rainwater Harvesting Workshop at the Haltom City Senior Center, 3201 Friendly Lane, in Haltom City at 6 p.m. Register.

See more TRWD events.

GRANTS

A rain barrel installed at Diamond Road Child Development Center in Fort Worth through a TRWD grant. Courtesy of TRWD.

TRWD also offers Conservation Treasures Grants. The grant funds outdoor water conservation features such as native plant gardens, pocket prairies, rain barrels and cisterns. The cities of Mansfield and White Settlement installed cisterns that provide water for their gardens with grant support from TRWD. 

Several schools and youth centers have received Conservation Treasures Grants including the Fuller Child Development Center in Fort Worth. The center’s nutritionist reached out to TRWD and they worked together to plant a drought-tolerant flower bed, build a vegetable garden, install two rain barrels and paint an educational mural.

At Waverly Park Elementary in Fort Worth, pre-K teacher Gina Peterson received a TRWD Treasures’ grant for a rain barrel, vegetable garden and native pollinator garden. 

Peterson says she and her team of six elementary teachers use the water from the rain barrel nearly every day to water their vegetable plants. This is the second year they’ve enjoyed growing vegetables and watching butterflies visit their pollinator garden, which features multiple, drought-tolerant native Texas plants. 

As a teacher of the youngest kids, Peterson has to explain in simple terms that the water falls onto the roof and flows into the rain barrel. 

“When I asked, ‘where does the water come from?’ one little one shouted out ‘the rain!’ — so clearly they are understanding.”

“There’s only so much water,” notes Peterson, “so we need to save it. Tarrant County doesn’t have enough water — we get most of it from East Texas. The older I get, the more important this is to me,” she says.

“Some of the kids are already planting at home. Hopefully our efforts to teach them how to save water will have a lasting impact. They will think to turn off the faucet when finished using it.”

HANDS-ON LEARNING

The rain barrel arrived at Waverly last spring. 

A student decorates a rain barrel installed through a TRWD workshop. Courtesy of TRWD.

“We talked about water conservation before it arrived," pre-K teacher Peterson said. "Then when it was delivered, Betsy helped the students paint it with native Texas flowers and then TRWD added greenery and insects around the flowers. Once the barrel was sealed, the students got to see it installed.

“We use it almost every day. We fill up a bucket of water from the rain barrel. Then the kids dip cups into the bucket to water our plants.”

TRWD also teaches workshops for older students to understand the value of rainwater. At Asa E. Low, Jr. Intermediate School in Mansfield, sixth grade science teacher Shelley Bell requested TRWD’s “Rain Catchers” program for their 300 students. 

“We cover water conservation and the importance of resource management. It’s all part of the sixth-grade curriculum.” 

TRWD led multiple classes this spring in which students calculated the rainwater they could catch from a small, shed roof and installed a spigot and insect screen on a rain barrel. 

“Each class received a rain barrel and the kids were excited. At an open house, we asked the families to put their names in a drawing," said Bell. "The two families whose names were picked got to take them home.”

To learn how to build a rain barrel for yourself or for a friend, see the instructions below. Save water and secure the future.

BENEFITS OF RAIN BARRELS

(Courtesy of Texas A&M Agrilife)

    •    Rain barrels reduce demand on municipal water supplies.,

    •    They help make efficient use of water resources.

    •    They help reduce flooding erosion and contamination of surface water.

    •    They SAVE YOU MONEY by reducing your water bill.

HOW TO BUILD A DIY RAIN BARREL

(Courtesy of Save Tarrant Water)

Info and video.

How to build a rain barrel. Courtesy of Texas A&M Agrilife.

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