The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California has begun a program called SoCal Water$mart in an effort to incentivize residents to be smarter about their overall water use. With the current Southern California drought and imposed water use restrictions, there has never been a better time to take advantage of a program like this.
Among incentives provided by this program are rebates rewarding residents for implementing water friendly devices to their homes. One of the easiest and most effective home devices to implement is a rain barrel. The rain barrel attaches to the gutter system of your home and collects rain water that can be reused for watering your lawn, trees, plants or garden.

rain barrel
(Seen above: The model of rain barrel available at Anawalt Malibu Hardware & Supply)
The requirements for getting a rain barrel rebate starting at $75 are:

1. Minimum size: 50 gallons
2. Rain barrel must be designed for the intended purpose of rain capture
3. Should have a cover to prevent mosquitos, rodents, and debris from entering
4. The rain barrel must be mounted in a way that allows the barrel to receive water unimpeded from a rain gutter.
5. Should not block or restrict access to walkways or pathways
6. Rain barrel must not be connected to the irrigation system and must be distributed through a hose or bucket
7. Should be elevated 6 inches off the ground on a solid foundation
8. Should be strapped to your home for safety is the height of the barrel is two times greater than the width
9. Maximum of four rain barrel rebates allowed per home, one application per address
10. Rain barrel must be purchased as an entire barrel. Homemade rain barrels do not qualify for rebate.

Rebate qualifying rain barrels are available at Anawalt Malibu Hardware & Supply in Cross Creek for $139.99. The rebate submission form can be found at this link: https://mwd.conservationrebates.com/
IMPORTANT: If you have a round down spout you need to buy an accessory called the “round down spout diverter” available at www.rainbarrelparts.com for $12.25.
Other devices the qualify for rebates include:

• High efficiency clothes washers (quantity: 1)
• High efficiency toilets (quantity: 1-9)
• Rotating nozzles (min: 15)
• Weather based irrigation controllers (< 1 acres) (quantity: 1-2) • Weather based irrigation controllers (>=1 acres) (quantity: 1-100)
• Soil moisture sensor (< 1 acres) (quantity: 1-2) • Soil moisture sensor (>= 1 acres) (quantity: 1-160)

If you are curious or seek more information about the SoCal Water$mart program and available rebates visit: http://socalwatersmart.com/

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