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As clouds threatened to dump rain one recent morning, Eric Durland stayed relaxed and dry inside his Glenmont home.

His rain barrel outside was about to be put to work.

Rain collected in the 55-gallon barrel is later used to water his plants and lawn.

"It'll fill ... in a rainstorm pretty quickly," Durland said.

This, essentially, is what a rain barrel does, and environmentalists say it's a relatively effective and effortless way for a homeowner to have a direct impact on the surrounding environment.

Durland is one of 40 homeowners in the Glenmont neighborhood, north of Wheaton and south of Aspen Hill, to try out the relatively simple barrels for the good of the Rock Creek watershed.

In September, the nonprofit Montgomery Housing Partnership sponsored a forum with the county's Department of Environmental Protection and the youth-driven government conservation group Montgomery County Conservation Corps to show residents how to install and use a rain barrel.

The county gave residents who sat through a day of lectures a 55-gallon barrel to try out at their homes.

"The idea is to save as much water as possible," said Durland, The Greater Glenmont Civic Association's environmental chairman, who has two rain barrels.

After a month, residents who have installed the barrels say they like them.

While the concept of a big barrel with pipes and spigots and convertors might throw some people off, the setup isn't difficult, said Kris Kumaroo, president of The Greater Glenmont Civic Association.

"It took me longer to get the tools out than to do the job," he said.

Kumaroo's barrel pipes water from his gutters to a compost pile, which creates what he calls rich "black gold" soil to use in his garden.

"It's self-sufficient right now," he said, pointing to the rain barrel's pipe over the compost. "If I don't have the time to dump it out, it all goes in here, which is fine."

Gardeners in particular enjoy the benefits of a rain barrel, which diverts water headed for the driveway or street to a garden instead, Durland said.

The promise of lower water bills may lure some into the rain-catching practice, but a 55-gallon barrel doesn't make much of a dent in most water bills, Durland said.

A Montgomery County program offers one-time rebates of up to $1,200 for a single-family house for purchasing and installing a rain barrel or other rain-saving device. The "rainscapes" rebate fund has about $75,000, given out on a first-come, first-served basis, and with 2009 as its first full year, the fund is expected to be depleted.

But Durland said the real motive for installing a barrel can be seen just down the hill from the Glenmont neighborhood, where a quiet creek bordering Wheaton High School gurgles.

About two years ago, county officials installed walls of boulders to prevent erosion, but it was too late: The damage from runoff had already been done, Durland said. The creek is about five feet lower than it should be (a healthy, erosion-free creek flows at almost ground level), and a large alcove much wider than the creek itself has been cut into the surrounding hills, a result of an overflow of runoff, Durland said.

The change surprised Kumaroo, who grew up in the Glenmont neighborhood.

"It was never like this when I was a kid," he said, standing over the eroded alcove in the hill. "It was higher, and it always flowed, and we never had this problem."

Durland said even more widespread destruction will occur if Glenmont residents don't start controlling their water flow now.

"Everything runs down from here," he said. "It all affects D.C., it all affects the bay, it all affects our neighbors."

For more on rain barrels or other rain-saving devices you can add to your home, including directions on installation or construction and rebate information, visit www.montgomerycountymd.gov/rainscapes.