water butts??

HelenDaveKids

Moved house to a water meter property so thinking need water butt as very large garden. Has one already but very old metal and has developed a few leaks.

Looked on internet seem to vary great, and I'm assuming quality varies too. Seem to be about £20-30 for 100-120litre but write ups seem to say thin plastic, but all the main dealers samey - argos, b and q, wilkos, wickes, amazon etc.

Have a square down pipe so may cause problems with fitting. Thinking we'll need more than 1.

Anyway does anyone know any decent websites please or advice on what to buy or what to avoid??

Many thanks for any advice. :j

Mankysteve

Most down spouts will work with square and circular down pipes. Personal I would go the ISB route but there not the best looking or compact, but you can get half size ones.

harrys_nan

look at your local council and water supply company, both of these may have "deals". As regards how many, it depends on what you need do you ahve a big garden and or grow lots of veg. We have 3 with another one on order and not a drop of water in any of them due to no blooming rain.
I live in the SW and our water is very expensive but Im now having to fill watering cans up from the tap :mad:

Philippa36

We've been looking at these and are having the same problem. We moved in Dec to our house and discovered we're now paying more than we were before, although they insist water meters are cheaper. We're finally forecast rain on Friday - the ground here is so dry, I just hope it rains heavily for several days. I've never wished for that before!

Our local council have reasonable offers, don't forget all the extras you need with the water butt, such as the stand, pipes, fittings. Wilkos seem to have the best deals when they're in stock and I've heard good reviews about them.

Good luck and let me know if you find a good deal!

suisidevw

Yes, our local council in Wales do compost bins for a fiver and water butts for £15 inc all the paraphanalia!

frugal_shopper_2

I wouldn't go to the expense of buying one from a shop. There is a company near me which makes primarily cereal bars & they sell off the containers the ingredients are delivered in, these have only ever been used for food products & they are washed out before they are sold. A 210L blue drum (essentially the same as a waterbutt) costs £2 or an IBC (1000L square plastic container) costs £10 you can easily fit taps & downpipe connectors to either type of container.
It's worth checking around food manufacturers near you to see if they have any containers going spare, most companies make a small charge but a few give them away free. Personally I find IBC's much more useful than standard waterbutt containers.

HelenDaveKids

Thanks. Is this wilkos one any good? Does it matter if the plastic is thin?

Can't see any deals with council and looked at severn trent and seem to be quite expensive, no reviews attached either so hard to gauge quality.

Not sure of any food companies nearby but will look out for them.

Thanks for all responses.

scbk

Another problem with a lot of the shop bought ones are the taps are useless, when the barrel is half empty it can take minutes to fill a watering can

I can get 210l steel drums through a friend, via a food business. I fitted 2nd hand guttering to a large shed along with 1 drum either side, and using a few bits and pieces I had lying about, can collect water, and it didn't cost me anything. The drums don't have taps, I made plastic lids which you lift off and dunk the bucket/watering can in, filling it within seconds.

Plastic drums would be better, but you'll still get a good few years out of steel ones, and it would be very easy to replace at a later date

aliasojo

Don't know if this is of any use to anyone? On offer in Argos, thought it wasn't a bad price considering it's got all the bits you need including the stand.

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/7202272/Trail/searchtext%3EWATER+BUTT.htm

At the risk of asking a daft question, what happens when the butt gets full? Does the water escape out the hole it came in and then just goes down the drain pipe?

newsgroup_monkey

aliasojo wrote: »

Don't know if this is of any use to anyone? On offer in Argos, thought it wasn't a bad price considering it's got all the bits you need including the stand.

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/7202272/Trail/searchtext%3EWATER+BUTT.htm

At the risk of asking a daft question, what happens when the butt gets full? Does the water escape out the hole it came in and then just goes down the drain pipe?

Yay Aliasojo and her Argoose bargains

If you can find one, Aldi had 210 Litre ones in for £25 a couple of months back

http://www.aldi.co.uk/uk/html/offers/special_buys3_17843.htm

Painkiller

Our council's refuse collection operates with 3 wheelie bins - 1 for household waste, one for paper, plastic & cans and 1 for garden waste. We are entitled to an extra wheelie bin for paper plastic & cans so I asked them for one and use it as a free 240l water butt on wheels.

Might be worth exploring if you're on a similar scheme.