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Since the anouncement of a hosepipe ban a week or so ago, there has been a run on water butts at all the local stores. I don't think there is a one to be had for miles around. So I had a rummage through my shed. I found:

Several offcuts of wood, left over from when I extended my raised bed vegetable plot
A couple of polythene dust sheets
Several bits of drainpipe and enough connectors to link them together
An old table salt container

So I screwed all the wood together to make a wooden container, sitting on a concrete area behind the house. Lined it with the polythene (two layers), connected the bits of drainpipe together and clipped them to a handy TV aerial mast that runs down the back of the house. All I had to buy was a running outlet that I spliced into the gutters, to connect the pipe to.

No idea how effective this will be or whether the polythene will be resistant to sunlight, or durable enough to contain water for any length of time. But it's raining now, and there are already several inchs of water in the bottom.

And the salt container? Well it made a perfect connector between two disimilar diameters of pipe.

Here are some pics (clickable):


Scrap wood becomes box


Two layers of thin polythene - how long can that last?


I'm leaving plenty of slack in it till it is full of water; then I'll trim it off neatly.


The only thing I had to buy was a running outlet to patch into the gutter. Cost £2.39.


The bottom of the pipe into the butt. That's rather a narrow drainpipe, I hear you say. Yes indeed, hence the need for...


...an empty salt container.

Bloody brilliant! Hats off to you for being so ingenious. Anyway if the plastic doesn't last you've got a great looking compost bin!

It LOOKS great - I particularly like the salt container connection! You would have paid a few quid for that in a shop... Durability will depend on the thickness of the polythene, I think. I give it the summer, anyway.

Nice one Muddy! It looks fab. We really need to get one too. Although there isn't an imminent hosepipe ban up here we do pay for our water to be pumped up from the well so it makes sense to use the freely available stuff that is dumped regularly from the sky

Yep! Well done mate! and judging by the outcome of the poll we all have waaaaaaaaay too much confidence in you

Nev

So far, it's got a foot of water in it, with no sign of leaking.

Looks like it should hold at least the wooden structure anyway, my slight concern is the poly dust sheet. I know that the poly black sheets on my allotment splits really easily.

Arn't I the bringer of doom I voted for a little longer than a month, but I actually have more faith in you than that. I wonder if it does end up with a little leak in it, if you could patch it up with a puncture repair kit.

I like it and I expect it will hold more water - if you get some.

How long will it last?
I'd worry about two things:

1. thin plastic getting ripped or punctured by a splinter or snagged on something sharp.

2. whether the wooden joints will take the pressure of the depth of the water

How confident are you about your joints? You could wrap some thin galvanised wire round the wood like the metal bands on a traditinal barrel to ensure integrity.

I got a book some while ago about making ferrocement* water tanks for Third World and I'm 'planning' to try to make one this summer. If I get round to it, I'll report back.

*cement with wire mesh reinforcement
.

What's it looking like now, Stew?

Wulf

Hello Elfcurry,

I can now report that it has lasted for a month without any problems. It is, of course only a temporary measure (you can actually buy water butts again now, locally), but it will be fun to see how long it lasts.


(clickable thumbs)

Unfortunately, it has never been more than half full, because we just haven't had enough rain. However, so far it has kept me going without a hosepipe.

You're right, of course, about the thin plastic being it's weak point. But there are two layers, and they are so scrunched up to fit in that there seems to be plenty of padding between them and the wood. I was careful to remove any sharp bits sticking out, and set the whole thing on a thin bed of soft sand. In fact I think the real danger comes from 1) dipping the watering can in without touching the sides, 2) the effect of ultraviolet from the sun - especially as I've used an old offcut of transparent polycarbonate sheet as the lid - must get round to changing that.

The joints will be OK - 2" screws into 2x1 at each corner - good enough to hold a house together (well, a water butt, anyway).

Good luck with your water tank - what size are you planning? Bear in mind, when you plan it, that cement as a lot of embedded energy in its manufacture (though I doubt you will be able to make a sizeable tank out of any other material without some degree of this factor, too). People are often amazed to find that big boats were once made out of ferrocement before glassfibre took over, so waterproofing should be easy enough.

I am very impressed and have only just found this thread!

I do hope you can get a waterbutt (or and extra one at that) soon. Have you looked to see if you can get a subsidised one from your council? We got ours for a fiver through our local authority. We'd really like another as our overflow seems to be getting shot of quite a bit of water after a short shower.

http://www.getcomposting.com/thames/index2.htm

Somewhere like this above.

Oh YEAH! Heaps Impressed Muddy!!!!!

When you first showed me a pic of a water butt, I have to be honest, I did think "mmmm".... Am afraid I am not one to spend money on things like that, when you can make things just like you have. I do have one of those black commercial composts, but am afraid I would never buy one. (Not as long as there were hay bales or corrugated iron waiting to be reused)

Yes... Call me Scrooge Mc Boots if you like...

We have the inside of the big auto washing machine blocked off and used to collect and hold water for the ponies, and I am still experimenting with smaller collections. 4-5 tyres piled high with (now 3) large wheelie bin liners in them are working as water storers placed hopefully under drain pipes (holding water pumped up from the dam at the mo though). I wrap the liner over and under the top tyre and they sit there quite well, but clearly do not have the support a box would provide. Lost one to some wires sticking out of a tyre too...

I think yours is brilliant. Heaps neat and tidy and as you said if the plastic is heaps bulky, and sitting against a flat surface it should last well, I'd figure. I'd give it a year, as the plastic is covered and not in the sun..
I think your on a winner!

If you called into a local electrical shop, you could probably get a lifetime supply of plastic off fridges and whatnot, to ensure its longevity. And if you stop sticking your watering can straight in and maybe bucket it out with a small pail, that might help too.

Here's to living the simple life and never buying another consumerised contraption that we can build, mould, make or re-invent at home.

*clink*

I was going to suggest getting a plastic jug about 1 litre to dip into the water butt and fill the can from that.

Well, I'm humbled by the generosity of the replies in this thread. I bet people who live in the outback have to do far more impressive things than this on a daily basis.

But anyway, I'm chuffed to say that owing to some real rain last night, my butt runneth over:


(clickable thumb)

It's a small life, but my own.

I missed this too, but I am delighted that your 'butt runneth over', Stew. I would have never have thought to do this, it is really ingenious. It is true, then, that necessity is the mother of invention.