Water Butts….waste of money?

gromituk

margaretclare wrote:

Ours took longer than 28 days but they wrote to us explaining the delay and explained that we had the option to cancel and get our money back if we wanted to. We didn't.

Apparently there was 'unprecedented demand' because of all the different local authorities and water boards offering discounts.

Thanks for that. I guess "unprecendented demand" is understandable!

gromituk

Katgoddess wrote:

Mad idea? Any suggestions? If I get enough water to clean my car a couple of times over the summer I'll be happy.

I think you've answered your own question - saving any rainwater is better than saving none.

katieowl_2

I haven't read all the way through here so if somebody else has suggested this sorry.

My DH had a brainwave!!! We have two spare full sized wheelie bins that we don't use and he is going to convert them into water butts. Cost £0 we think all we need is a bend for the down pipe, a joining piece and an overflow back to the drain. They will hold a LOT of water.

Regards

Kate

gromituk

Fill one with water first to check that it doesn't distort or fall over. It'll be carrying a lot more weight than it was designed for. Also, if you buy a water butt adaptor (cheapest place Wickes or Screwfix - £5) then the only modification you need to make to the downpipe (assuming it is plastic) is to cut through it at one point. You can get extension pieces to join the bins together.

katieowl_2

Thanks for that suggestion DH uses Screwfix all the time, I don't think he thought to check them! I'd be surprised if they didn't take the weight, as they are more solid than the water butts tens to be (we have one at the allotment) besides we've thrown some mighty heavy loads away over the years LOL!

Regards

Kate

hilary1

RichyRich wrote:

This thread inspired me to have a look at water butts/compost bins, and I checked out the council and the water board. It seems that both organisations use the same company for fulfillment.

Water butts (complete kit) are £34.95 inc postage from Yorkshire Water and £29.95 + £5 postage (same price) from Bradford Council.

330 Litre Compost Bins are £6 inc postage from Yorkshire Water and £14.95 plus £5 postage from Bradford Council.

So it seems that the water board may be a cheaper option, although note that in this case the council's delivery charge is per order, so if you wanted more than one water butt it would work out cheaper, but for some reason compost bins are a lot cheaper from the water board!

Rich

Newcastle under Lyme - Compost bin FREE and delivered Free.

Severn Trent Water - Water Butt £35 which makes it dearer than I've seen in DIy stores.

Has anyone noticed that its rained since the water boards said there was a shortage a couple of weeks ago!:rotfl:

If the water companies want us to save water why dont they give us all butts out of the billions they make then nobody would have an excuse for not using one.

In fact if the water companies got off their butts and saved the billions of litres they are wasting they could stop moaning about shortages.

msraec

julieanne wrote:

Water authorities charge for the surface water that drains off your property so surely a water but would more than pay for itself in this way?

is this true? im on a meter and my neighbour has oput his drainpipes over the fence and into my garden drain! (without asking) i dont care that much as i've no plans to sell and its not unsightly albeit cheeky but is it costing me anything?!! i thought i just paid for what i drew from the taps or am i misunderstanding the post!!

gromituk

Water authorities have no way of knowing how much rainwater drains off your property, and hence either include it in the water bill (metered or fixed) or give you a discount if none of your surface water goes down their drains. So unless all of your guttering feeds into soakaways (whether or not via water butts is immaterial, because they fill up and overflow) you will not get a discount.

I'm not sure that your neighbour is being cheeky - in my terrace, only alternate houses have surface water drains. This suits me because I can benefit from next door's rainwater too. I'm sure next door doesn't get a discount because the water is still going down the surface water drains in the end.