Rain Barrel Maker Swamped with Sales

To Steve and Keota Lynn Golden it made perfect sense.

Last fall amid news reports of a possible impending drought Keota Lynn remembered her upbringing on a farm where despite having a private well on the property her parents used water from rain barrels to water the garden and outdoor plants.

"My wife had to have some rain barrels and I got into it and here we are," said Steve Golden.

Steve said when he started looking online at rain barrels he wasn't impressed with their quality or style. So, he started working on his own. Several months and prototypes later Steve is so convinced he's built a better rain barrel.

Golden said he buys food storage barrels (when he cleans them up, you guessed it, he uses water from his own rain barrels), drills several holes, attaches tubing for an overflow mechanism and then attaches what he says is the secret to his rain barrels -– a tension fitted spicket that won't leak or break off.

The owners of several local Ace Hardware stores seem convinced. Golden is now churning out thirty rain barrels a week for them.

"Last Thursday, I brought eight to an Ace Hardware store in Decatur and six were already sold. He said give me 8 more right away," Golden said.

Golden calls the barrels Noah's Rain Barrels, given that they live on Noah's Ark Road in Clayton County.

While the Goldens make a few dollars off every rain barrel they insist that's not why the do it.

"The thing is to save water conserve water and the more people we can get barrels to, the better," said Steve Golden.

"I'm excited about it because maybe people will see how much water they can accumulate even with just a drizzle. A half inch of rain on a 1,000 square foot roof can generate 300 gallons of water. It also keeps so much water from simply flushing down the storm drains. Maybe it's something people will continue doing even when drought is over," added Keota Lynn Golden.

Right now the couple has four of Steve's rain barrels in their own yard. His wife would like more, but her husband is swamped just trying to keep up with the demand from his paying customers.