Who has a butt?!!

sknowles92

I got mine from these guys :-

http://www.waterbuttsdirect.co.uk

Our local counil don't offer them cheap (they do with compost bins). But the missus decided she wanted a wallmounted one anyway so I had to splash out.

gavsmillie

I calculated my (found) blue barrel with bought divertor kit to save me 0.25 pence for everytime it fills up. My council does not issue them at massive reduced costs unfortunatly !!

For me it is not a money saving exercise though but an ethical point of view i.e I am not using water that has to be processed first by the very profitable water companies but natural (no doubt some fallout contained in it somewhere !!) rain from the skies.

My point is that as a consumer group saving 200ltrs each would soon mount up to a considerable sum therby reducing the profits of greedy companies and ultimately making us feel better about the enviornment that some of us want to save (don't care if it is all a bush conspiracy, makes me feel better as a world citizen !!!)

Sermon over, hope you have saved some water for your coffee now !! :A

Cardew

gavsmillie wrote: »

I calculated my (found) blue barrel with bought divertor kit to save me 0.25 pence for everytime it fills up. My council does not issue them at massive reduced costs unfortunatly !!

For me it is not a money saving exercise though but an ethical point of view i.e I am not using water that has to be processed first by the very profitable water companies but natural (no doubt some fallout contained in it somewhere !!) rain from the skies.

My point is that as a consumer group saving 200ltrs each would soon mount up to a considerable sum therby reducing the profits of greedy companies and ultimately making us feel better about the enviornment that some of us want to save (don't care if it is all a bush conspiracy, makes me feel better as a world citizen !!!)

Sermon over, hope you have saved some water for your coffee now !! :A

I agree about the ethical/environmental bit, but not about it restricting the companies profits.

The water companies profits are strictly controlled by the regulator. The expences for the water companies is largely the infrastructure, labour etc. Lots of properties do not have their water metered, so they can use as much as they want.

If the revenue from metered properties dropped, because water consumption had decreased, the price we pay would simply increase to enable the companies to pay for the infrastructure etc.

When the Government, in their wisdom, privatised the water industry and sold shares to investors, the terms and conditions allowed the companies to make a certain return on their capital invested.

Poet_2

Cardew wrote: »

I agree about the ethical/environmental bit, but not about it restricting the companies profits.

The water companies profits are strictly controlled by the regulator. The expences for the water companies is largely the infrastructure, labour etc. Lots of properties do not have their water metered, so they can use as much as they want.

If the revenue from metered properties dropped, because water consumption had decreased, the price we pay would simply increase to enable the companies to pay for the infrastructure etc.

When the Government, in their wisdom, privatised the water industry and sold shares to investors, the terms and conditions allowed the companies to make a certain return on their capital invested.

gerrof! our water is supplied by United Utilities, look at this http://www.fool.co.uk/news/investing/company-comment/2007/06/05/united-utilities-to-have-and-to-hold.aspx

I think this setence from the article sums it up;

"It's a pity more companies aren't as committed as UU to maximising the dividend. "

I am on a low income and butts are very expensive. I keep an eye on freecycle and e-bay but so far haven't found one cheap enough. Mailed my MP yesterday to ask why our local council don't subsidise the purchase of butts and generally told him the lack of help and encouragement provided by our council as a whole with regards to recycling was very poor, just waiting for a response.

Had thought about converting an old barrel but I wouldn't have a clue how to do it and would probbly make a mess of it anyway.

Anyone know where to get a cheap/free butt?

Cardew

Poet wrote: »

gerrof! our water is supplied by United Utilities, look at this http://www.fool.co.uk/news/investing/company-comment/2007/06/05/united-utilities-to-have-and-to-hold.aspx

I think this setence from the article sums it up;

"It's a pity more companies aren't as committed as UU to maximising the dividend. "

I am not sure of the point you are trying to make.

In a Capitalist society, of course all companies will try to maximise profits for their shareholders.

In privatising the water industry the Government in effect gave the water companies a licence to print money – they have a win/win situation.

As they have a monopoly of an essential service, their charges are regulated by ofwat. If they weren't we would be hammered far more than we are already.

If their revenue falls by £x million because extensive use of water butts means less water is being used(as suggested by gavesmillie above), all that will happen is the Regulator will allow them to increase their charges to compensate for this lost £x million.

That is why the water companies are not concerned about people going on a meter and paying less water charges. Or allowing a rebate for surface water drainage. Their revenue is protected.

Perhaps you can explain what you mean by the quote above.

gavsmillie

I agree with both Cardew and Poet (God I sound like a liberal !) on their points.

Would be nice if our government took notice though and forced through all households to be metered. Would make people more aware of such a valuable resource and not to be taken for granted. Take the recent floods where one woman was complaining it was a disaster as she had no water to wash her abulutions away !!! Looking at remote locations where some people have to walk miles just to get drinking water never crossed her mind I suppose !!

Anyhow don't want to turn this into a debate as original question was does this save any water bills from sammiboo. In my humble opinion no not really unless you have an estate to water with a ton of water butts !!!

:beer: time for a beer me thinks !!

arkonite_babe

Poet wrote: »

Had thought about converting an old barrel but I wouldn't have a clue how to do it and would probbly make a mess of it anyway.

This picture of mine will show you all I did............


Mine doesn't have a tap on the bottom, I just dunk an old jug in and off I go

Cardew

arkonite_babe wrote: »

This picture of mine will show you all I did............


Mine doesn't have a tap on the bottom, I just dunk an old jug in and off I go

Mmmm looks like a illegal moonshine still to me!

Poet_2

Cardew wrote: »

I am not sure of the point you are trying to make.

In a Capitalist society, of course all companies will try to maximise profits for their shareholders.

In privatising the water industry the Government in effect gave the water companies a licence to print money – they have a win/win situation.

As they have a monopoly of an essential service, their charges are regulated by ofwat. If they weren't we would be hammered far more than we are already.

If their revenue falls by £x million because extensive use of water butts means less water is being used(as suggested by gavesmillie above), all that will happen is the Regulator will allow them to increase their charges to compensate for this lost £x million.

That is why the water companies are not concerned about people going on a meter and paying less water charges. Or allowing a rebate for surface water drainage. Their revenue is protected.

Perhaps you can explain what you mean by the quote above.

they ARE money grabbers, I thought you were trying to justify their greed by saying they need the cash to maintain their "infrastructure" but the fact that they rake in huge profits (as proven by the link I quoted) goes to show they earn far more than they need to maintain this "infrastructure"- capitalism sucks

nuff said, didn't come for a political debate just a free butt

peace

Poet_2

arkonite_babe wrote: »

This picture of mine will show you all I did............


Mine doesn't have a tap on the bottom, I just dunk an old jug in and off I go

might suggest it to hubbie, see if he can do something similar, thanks