OK, so it’s not much more than a barrel with a spigot attached.

Despite its simplicity, a rain barrel offers plenty in the way of money savings and water preservation, proponents say.

Now those proponents want others to learn about its benefits.

“Rain barrels are a way to capture water and use it for something good, and it’s free,” said Amanda Meder, environmental health educator for the city of Lincoln.

The city, through its Pioneers Park Nature Center and Watershed Management Division, is working to get the word out about rain barrels through the Artistic Rain Barrel Program.

The program will give individuals and groups a chance to paint one of 25 rain barrels that will be displayed in businesses and libraries and later auctioned off.

A rain barrel is a barrel attached to a home’s rain gutter downspout tubes. It collects rain that homeowners can use to water lawns and gardens.

“Every droplet that drops on your property when the rain comes is yours to do with as you please,” Meder said.

And that can amount to a lot of water.

In eastern Nebraska, 400,000 gallons of rain fall each year on a typical half-acre lot. Still, about 40 percent of an average homeowner’s monthly water bill in the summer goes toward lawn and garden use, Meder said.

Rain barrels reduce the impact on municipal water supplies and save on the cost of watering, she said.

“We want people to have fun and also learn about ways to make their homes greener and more environmentally friendly,” she said.

The city will accept applications from individuals or groups who want to paint a rain barrel until Jan. 30. It will notify artists it selects by Feb. 6 and hopes to have all rain barrels finished by March 6, Meder said.

The painted rain barrels will be displayed in March and early April in local businesses and libraries. They then will be displayed on April 18 at Pioneers Park Nature Center during the Nature’s Market event, said Nancy Furman, coordinator at the Nature Center.

The annual fundraiser for the Nature Center offers people a chance to walk the trail while visiting vendors like baristas, jewelers, quilters and artists. The rain barrels likely will be auctioned off some time after April 18, though a date hasn’t been set.

Furman is no stranger to rain barrels, as the Nature Center’s recently completed Prairie Building includes a 500-gallon silo that collects water from the roof.

“We do use that water,” she said.

Reach Kevin Abourezk at 473-7225 or kabourezk@journalstar.com.