Single hen

[ali-s]

I'm feeling very guilty because for the last few weeks I have been opening the tap on the water butt to get rid of the water collected

 

We are having so much rain up here the butt keeps filling and then pouring out of the top This then floods the chicken run.

 

I have nothing that needs watering in the garden and only one house plant.

 

Today I decided to keep the tap open until the spring, but it seems such a waste

[Cate in NZ]

Oh, wow I thought we'd had some rain down here, although thinking back it was probably only a very wet and miserable couple of weeks a while back now.... my water butts (which were completely empty by the end of the summer) are now probably around 1/2-3/4s full.

Sounds like you need to keep them open, if you've no use for the water and risk making the chicken run flood then it seems like the most sensible option, but it still makes me go

[One Man Banned]

can you not portion of a section of the garden and allow it to flood.

 

When you have a heavy frost you'll get your very own ice rink!

 

I suppose in seriousness that it's not so much of a waste in the winter as like you say yourself there is already so much water.

 

You can close it off again as the winter weather passes over when you'll need to start collecting it - otherwise you could have a slight slip if it got to wet and slippery.

 

A

xx

[PurpleHen]

I have decided to do the same thing - our butt also collects grey water which you shouldn't keep for too long anyway - so each weekend I empty it all out. I can't leave the tap on as the water floods around the wrong place - but if I attach a small bit of hose it can just flow down the drain pipe. I already have the hose at hand because I use the piece which usually connects the tap to the hose reel - if you see what I mean

 

It is a shame - but it is so WET here, it's just not worth it.

[ali-s]

I got a telling off from grumpy OH on Sunday after I let the water drain away

 

He decided to wash both the cars (not been washed for months) and use the water from the butt to rinse them

 

It was quite funny watching him waiting for the watering can fill up and when it didn't peeking inside to see where the water had gone He then took off part of the drainpipe which goes into the waterbutt incase it was blocked At that point I told him the butt had been drained

[Egluntyne]

Could you siphon it into a second butt???..... Probably expensive, but come the next drought........

[ali-s]

, but come the next drought........

 

 

This made me laugh. Look where I live

 

A second and maybe a third waterbutt is on my list of things to buy for the garden.

 

The waterbutt still over flows a lot. we use the water to clean the cars, wash down the patio (flipping seagulls ), and more will be used now that I have seeds in the greenhouse.

[Guest]

Probably expensive, but come the next drought........

 

 

You didn't notice Ali's location, did you Egluntine......

[Egluntyne]

Probably expensive, but come the next drought........

 

 

You didn't notice Ali's location, did you Egluntine......

 

Is it not dry is Scotland then??

[Guest]

Once a year, on the third Monday of July, between 12:15pm and 3:32pm, the sun has been known to struggle through the rain clouds....

[Egluntyne]

Best get the factor 30 ready then!

[Helly Welly]

Could you siphon it into a second butt???

 

Rather than having a sting of waterbutts, we went big in the first place and bought an IBC container. These are those large white square containers in a metal cage which are normally used for transporting orange juice. I can't remember where we got it from but it was only somewhere we found on Google. I don't think they were too expensive either. They hold 250 gallons so it should take a while to fill!

[Nicola H]

Thanks for the tip Helly Welly I have just found this http://www.smithsofthedean.co.uk/index.html on the internet they are much cheaper than the ones at the garden centre and recycled........

[Christian]

Not sure how your down pipe works but ours go into the ground and then the drain. I managed to find a rain diverter to fit to the down pipe. It channels the rain into the butt and when the butt is full it carries on into the drain. oviously no good if attached to a shed/garage but really easy to fit (even I managed it), you just need a hacksaw to cut the pipe.

 

Got it from B and Q I think, about £5 for the kit?

[Helly Welly]

Thanks for the tip Helly Welly I have just found this http://www.smithsofthedean.co.uk/index.html on the internet they are much cheaper than the ones at the garden centre and recycled........

 

Just had a look Nicola, that's where we got them from!