The dawn of the year 2000 had many expectations leading up to it. Will it be the end of the world? Will it be the end of technology? Is it the beginning of a new era and consciousness? Similar to today’s 2012 doomsday speculations, the meaning and significance of Y2K had everyone around the world asking questions. People didn’t know what to think. Many people were afraid while others claimed that it was all just a big myth. As the time drew nearer to January 1st, however, the rumors got louder and those listening to them got prepared.
People driving by the back of our house off the main road of Eldorado in the year 1999 were occasionally greeted by a sign that read “Y2K Storage Barrels”, with a large amount of terra cotta barrels waiting to be sold, and my hopeful dad attending the many intrigued drivers that stopped by to have a look. The corner of our yard was stacked higher than the level of our fence with barrels, which we had unloaded from a full-sized semi despite the scrutiny from neighbors. Aside from that, the barrels smelled (and continue to smell) like garlic or peppers before getting washed out. We had hope that it would be worth all the trouble.
Needless to say, we didn’t have to send all the barrels back to where they came. People were buying them. Some for food. Some for water. Some to put pillows in and turn into a doghouse. Anything you could imagine. The Y2K hype was really working!
After the ball dropped and the parties died down, and people began forgetting about the Y2K new world which had been the only thing on their minds the night before, life went back to normal. It was only then that we really started to sell rain barrels as a way to store the water coming off people´s roofs. As the business started to grow, the city of Santa Fe got involved and granted us the right to give customers $30 dollar rebates on their water bill for buying barrels. We soon found ourselves delivering barrels to places outside of Santa Fe, and I became busier and busier getting orders ready for wholesale. The business spread to Albuquerque, and our methods of selling evolved with the number of barrels we were selling. It wasn’t as easy anymore to keep up with orders, so we were forced to find better and more efficient ways of preparing the barrels to be sold.
Today, after 10 years of selling barrels, the business has seen many changes. We now have a distribution in Las Cruces, NM, as well as the one we have had in Atlanta, GA. We have many different sizes of tanks and cisterns, and they are all of various types and prices. The more people buy, the less limits we have in selling the barrels, and we encourage anyone interested, no matter where from or what is needed, to contact us.
The city of Albuquerque, although already big for NM, is continuing to increase in size and population. As the number of people using water increases, the level of Albuquerque´s ground water decreases at an even faster rate, signifying that water conservation must grow to match the demand for water. The earlier people conserve water, the more secure the future of our water supply will be, and we will be more prepared for any water-related problems to come. Rain barrels for Albuquerque and Santa Fe are always available to interested clients. As the demand for water increases, we hope to meet that demand with a reliable supply of barrels.
Hope we can continue to serve you, and happy 10th anniversary of Santa Fe rain barrels!