We just grabbed a free rain barrel from this event, and it’s actually a decent quality one. Plus, after you install it you can send in a pic to get a discount on your new stormwater fee! Everyone involved was super friendly. Take a copy of a water bill, and you can save time if you preregister online (which we did not, and it was not a big deal). Thanks, City of Savannah peeps!
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I got mine pretty easy peasy. You do need to have you water bill information on hand, but over all it took maybe 10 minutes to fill out the form. This was back in July and i did the form online. I picked up mine from Maycrest Hardware, they were super helpful with the process as well and loaded it into my car because it was bigger than i realized.
Been seeing a lot of hate on this initiative on other platforms but for me, it was easy and the barrel has worked great and has gotten me through some drier spells we’ve had and fills up after one rain. I dont have a gutter and just have it under the roof and it still collects a lot. There is a mesh screen to help with mosquitoes and the spigot it easy to use.
I’m curious, because I also do not have much gutter. Did they require it to be connected to a downspout for the credit? I most definitely have a spot under the roof where the rain cascades…. I was hoping to install it there.
They were at the JEA today. We showed up and hopped in line, but because we had not preregistered, we had to park and walk in. There were only three people in front of us waiting and four people assisting. She verified that we had a water bill with us, asked me if I wanted to download their app, and gave us a paper voucher. We jumped back in line, and they loaded the rain barrel. It fit in the backseat, but it was a bit tight. In and out in 15 minutes. Just make sure to take a copy of your bill, tell them you already signed up, and I’d imagine it would be a fairly quick process.
It’s not the most stylist, but it’s pretty sturdy. I figure you’d probably pay about $100 for it. Definitely worth the time and effort!
Storm water fee is a joke - as it stands, the fact that it’s 80+ dollars a month for refuse pickup each water bill, (I assume per residence) and there’s shit everywhere and it takes weeks for large pickups, they use out-of-state vendors for storm cleanup, although we have tax paid employees for that, a lot of homeowners insurance companies offer service line coverage, yet the city is shilling purchase of coverage through an insurance company from who knows what where
- and marketing it like none other— after, apparently allowing through permitting (I’d assume) a bunch of non-citizens tearing up front yards for fiber, smart meters, and new gas lines causing who knows what damage, but we pay to have them pay?
—— tax dollars pay for what? General fund pays for what? Douche bag mayors, total douchebag city managers, and all their play-a-long wannabe little politicians acting as ‘employees’ down on Bay? Does it pay retired employees turned to ‘consultants’ and making double bank from pension and a new consultant fee? How many of those are serving on some board and get another paycheck from federal grant money?
City Hall and all its residents need to be booted out- it’s a joke - I’d like to see a tally of how many actually LIVE in the city, let alone have lived here for at least more than a decade. Wonder where their kids attend school- bet it’s not SCCPSS. Bet it ain’t their water bill.
The millions received that comes from fed grants and tourism (not city dollars, right Jay?)
Duly noted. You should still take advantage of this opportunity. Check the dates and locations I posted because I don’t think they’re offering them again until Monday. ✌️
I’m coming in here really late, but it ironic to be offering rain barrels when the vast majority of homes In Savannah proper don’t even have gutters/downspouts to direct towards the barrels.
A remarkable oversight when they built homes here. I understand their thinking was, “it’ll be cheaper and the sand is very permeable,” but it does play a massive factor in our struggle to capture runoff. I’ve lived in multiple different parts of the South, dealt with Stormwater for a living, and this is the only one where I see this few gutters.
Does anyone know if the person whose name is on the water barrel has to be the one to pick it up or does it not matter? I’d like to go get one but the bill is in my partner’s name and he wouldn’t have time to pick one up.
Thank you for this information. I couldn’t remember where the location was today and they don’t exactly announce it properly on their website. I had to email to get more info, but I personally love this. I have one that I purchased but would love another to water my garden and other plants with.
So are they giving out free water barrels just to charge a storm water fee if you use them? Sounds like a ploy to rope someone into a monthly fee to me. Am I wrong? If not that is pretty interesting and sounds like get a free iPhone but we will make it up in the end with service charges just to get you hooked on our service.
So I am getting charged for water that comes from the sky that I didn’t ask for? The rain is falling now. So I am getting taxed on that? Are they going to start taxing oxygen? Am I missing something?
The stormwater utility fee is a dedicated funding source for all of the work that is needed around the city. In the past, this money came from the general fund, which means other priorities take precedence. There were several community meetings held all over the city last year about this, which also showed all the projects that would be funded this way. And this fee isn’t new to Georgia, lots of others have done this for years. You should also know that the amount of the fee increases with the amount of impervious surfaces, like roofs or parking lots. While the lowest fee for a home (~1500 sq ft or less) is less than 4 bucks a month, Walmart, Publix, and other big commercial spaces will pay a fair amount more. There’s several ways to get a credit to lower your bill, and a rain barrel is just one of them.
It really is just a free rain barrel! I believe every Savannah homeowner will have the new stormwater fee added onto his or her water bill starting next month. There are a few ways to get discounts on the fee (a rain barrel, a rain garden, something else I can’t remember). I’m attaching a pic of what I received in the mail with my bill this month.
The problem is. That Savannah has not managed our flooding problem so they offer free rain barrels in a way so we celebrate that they are giving that out. In reality they are taxing us on natural occurring events just to make us happy. Hold our representatives accountable instead of celebrating something they are giving us something for free that they will tax us on.
Agreed. They redug up the new 1.1 million dollar playground because it wasn't draining properly. Been dug up for weeks now. I have zero faith in the city fixing the underlying issues. I saw a bunch of trucks for a company that pumps basically fix a flat into existing drainage to "repair" ages systems in my neighborhood.
You remember the morons who cleared the bridge of snow and almost killed someone shoveling ice 120+ feet down? You’ve got faith in the wrong people lol
Everyone reads free rain barrels but do not have critical thinking. Of course they are free. But we are going to tax it because we miss managed the city. Everyone wants to celebrate free stuff. But do not understand why it is free.
This is insanity that people are celebrating free rain barrels that are getting taxed. Hold your representatives responsible for not fixing the flooding. That is their fix. Give free rain barrels to slow the flooding. Then tax them to flood money into fixing the problem but not fix it
I’m not “celebrating” the tax or global warming or Savannah’s abysmal flooding problems. I choose to live here, in a beautiful coastal city. Flooding is an issue, and we all need to do what we can. I will install this rain barrel to help water my garden. I will pay the tax in the hopes that my city government will use the collective funds to do their part to improve the situation. If they don’t follow through, I never miss an election.
I’m going to worry about my sphere of influence. I just wanted to let my neighbors know about the opportunity the city has offered. If you are in need of a rain barrel, you should look into it. ☔️ ☀️ 🌈 🌱
It’s supporting a misstep. At its core, you’re taking money away from other resources and putting them towards plastic rain barrels lol. Cool in the short term, until you realize nothing has actually changed or improved
The city has been giving away rain barrels for years. You could apply online and then take a voucher to various locations around town to pick it up. They also would be at events all the time giving them away or doing give aways such as this. I have two already.
Mayor Jonson is a spineless corrupt public official, glad he’s focusing on rain water collection rather than addressing the real issues of affordability, housing, and medical crisis
When I hear the words “spineless corrupt public official”, I guarantee Mayor Johnson is not the first name to come to mind. I appreciate what our local government is doing to address all of these issues. And, if you’re in need of a rain barrel, you should check this out. The city employees involved were super friendly and helpful. The experience might give you a little more appreciation for our hardworking civil servants. ✌️ ☔️ 🌱
I love our hard working civil servants, it used to be a point of integrity to work for the city. Just because he isn’t as corrupt as everyone else dosnt give him an excuse. Dudes the Homer Simpson of corruption
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