Water butt problem

[tiggy]

I have been given a waterbutt,fished out of the canal by a mate of mine.trouble is the path down the side of the house is narrow and very near wall so I will have to set this up some way from the downspout.Has anybody here had a similar situation and if so how did you solve it. also has anybody any bright ideas. we have a water meter so have extra good reason for saving water for the garden.

[pumpy]

not quite sure of the situation, there, Tiggy. Can the down-pipe be rerouted,or have i misunderstood?

[Thomzo]

Yes, is there any possibility of putting an elbow joint high up on the downpipe and then running the downpipe at an angle along the wall to the water butt? I have a similar set up which takes the run off from a flat roof into the pond.

The other possibility is to get one of those contraptions that you fit into the downpipe that diverts the water into the water butt. It'll come with a hose which will be far too short, but you can buy a longer piece of hose. You won't get all the water into the butt but if you're having the sort of rain that we are, it won't matter.

Cheers
Zoe

[tiggy]

hi pumpy, the down spout drops straight down the corner of the house to the main drain via the usual trap arrangement.if there was room to stand the butt next to it and still get wheelbarrow past then i could just fit the diverter kit and all would be simple. alas a small immovable wall holding back soil etc gets in the way and the path is only a paving slab wide so with a water butt in position even a would likely have to walk across the garden to pass. so all this means putting the butt at a distance and maybe sending the over flow ,when butt is full, to somewhere else as the fill pipe will have to run above head height.this lot gets half a house roof and the garage worth of rain down it so will be worth catching.As I sometimes come by large plastic drums it will be well worth setting this lot up to syphon into further drums and loose the surplus well away from buildings. the logistics of it all are a bit boggling.catching the water of the back of the house is similarly arkward but the shed will be a doddle. i suppose i will end up with a plumbers nightmare in plastic but hey ho! any bright ideas

[tiggy]

I got given a diverter so it will no doubt star in the plumbers nightmare along with extra hose. your setup sounds good Zoe but alas no pond for me. it is "on the you are not having "list as defined by my OH along with chickens and an old landrover.I will have to drag out all the plastic bits spare hose and other strange and usefull items and see what might be possible.

[pumpy]

Hi, Tiggy,
Zoes idea is pretty much what i was thinking. However, in the absense of a pond,what about a bog garden - assuming that you have an area of lower lying garden. It could be "trickle fed" from the over-flow,using a large(ish) pipe,with loads of small holes in it.Bog plants,etc,are fairly cheap i believe.

[tiggy]

thanks pumpy I think I will probably try to get hold of as much storage as possible and loose the rest via a perforated hose into the dryer bit of garden [big trees lurk there]I spotted a dumped hosepipe coming home but already had a bike full of shopping so will have to go scavenging tomorrow but if it is still there then thats another bit of the irrigation jigsaw

[pumpy]

couldn't you drape the pipe round your shoulders, like a string of onions? good luck.