Town Program Helps Save Nearly Half a Million Gallons of Water

As Danvers faces strained water supplies during hotter, drier months, the Town is helping residents take practical steps to reduce demand. Through the Community Rain Barrel Program, the Town of Danvers is delivering on the Resilient Danvers Climate Action, Sustainability, Preservation, and Resiliency (CASPR) Plan by helping residents save water, reduce runoff, and strengthen local resilience at home.

Since 2019, Danvers residents have received 629 rebated rain barrels and diverted 459,170 gallons of stormwater. The concept is simple: collect rainwater from rooftops and use it later for gardens, lawns, and outdoor plants instead of relying on treated drinking water.

This matters most during the spring, summer, and fall, when outdoor water use increases and local water supplies can become more stressed. Danvers is part of the Ipswich River basin, a highly stressed water source, and state regulations include a summer water use cap for the Town from May 1 through October 1. Conserving water proactively can help reduce pressure on the system and limit the need for more stringent restrictions later.

Outdoor water restrictions are one visible sign of that pressure. Effective June 15, 2026, Danvers is at Level 4 drought conditions. At this level, outdoor lawn and garden watering with sprinklers or irrigation systems is allowed only on Tuesdays and Saturdays from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Hand-held watering with hoses and watering cans is allowed any day, at any time.

Rain barrels are not a full solution to drought, but they are one useful part of a longer-term water conservation strategy. By storing rainwater before it runs off, residents can rely less on treated drinking water for outdoor plants and gardens. When paired with native and drought-tolerant plants, rain barrels can help residents maintain outdoor spaces while using less water overall.

The Community Rain Barrel Program grew out of Danvers’ existing water conservation rebate efforts. The Town first added rain barrel rebates in 2019 as a natural extension of its water fixture retrofit rebate program. In fiscal year 2024, Danvers expanded the effort by partnering with The Great American Rain Barrel Company to make ordering and distribution easier for residents.

That partnership helped increase participation. Before the Community Rain Barrel Program, Danvers averaged about 25 Town rain barrel rebates per year. Since launching the expanded effort, adoption has grown greatly, with total rain barrel rebates issued shooting well past 100 in the past couple of years.

Through the program, Danvers residents can order rain barrels through TGARB during the annual ordering window. In 2026, residents could purchase barrels at a discounted price of $89 each, with the Town rebating the value of up to two barrels per household. Pickup is held during the Town’s Earth Day Zero Waste Recycling Event at Danvers High School.

The barrels are 100% repurposed, food-grade, UV-protected, BPA-free barrels produced locally in Massachusetts. They are screen-filtered to help keep mosquitoes out, and residents can link several barrels together to collect more rainwater over time.

The Community Rain Barrel Program is funded through Danvers’ Water Use Mitigation Program, supporting Resilient Danvers efforts to reduce demand on the local water system. By helping residents use captured stormwater for outdoor watering instead of treated drinking water, the program advances that goal at the household level. The Town is also reinforcing these practices in public spaces through rain barrels at municipal buildings and earth planters downtown and at other municipal sites, showing how water conservation can be built into both public and private spaces.

Danvers plans to continue offering the Community Rain Barrel Program and has shared the model with regional water resilience partners as an option for other communities looking to reduce outdoor water demand. By equipping residents to conserve water at home, Danvers is delivering on CASPR goals, strengthening local water resilience, and investing in a safer, more sustainable future for everyone.