Water Butt #1

I intend to put in a couple of water butts - the main being for water from the shed, which will be right next to the beds - but also one to take water from one of the main downpipes from the house. As this would get more water, and the guttering was already in place I decided on this first. There are kits in Hilliers (our local garden centre) and Homebase for taking a feed from your downpipe. Unfortunately these are all for round downpipes, and we have a square downpipe. However some hunting found me one offered by Screfix - in case I'm looking for another Square Line Rainwater Diverter. Even better, there turned out to be a Screwfix depot in Horsham :)

I bought a 200L butt which will tuck nicely away at the side of the house.


The first task is to cut a 26mm hole about 100mm from the top. After several tools the good old Stanley Knife proved best. And after many attempts at making the hole gradually bigger I found a 10p was about 26mm diameter. For the next butt I should get a 10p, draw around it, cut spokes from the centre to the edge and then cut them out. The plug slots in easily with a couple of plastic washes that'll hopefully cover up any areas a little too large.

The real problems started with the downpipe. The instructions say to cut out a 30mm section, with the base level with the base of the hole in the butt - this is so that if the butt overflows it will flow back into the downpipe - clever.

I cut the section using a special blade for my Stanley Knife again - the blade with the really small teeth. It worked a treat but was a little awkward as I had to cut the pipe in situ.


The instructions say to move the top piece of pipe up, and the bottom piece down, slot in the diverter and push the bits of pipe back together. However the top bit would hardly move up (not necessarily a problem), and the bottom piece was fixed at the base so couldn't move down. Hmm. I ended up moving the top piece up as much as it would go, about 1cm, and fixing it with the wall bracket. Then I cut out just enough of the bottom to be able to slide the diverter in, and moving the top back.

It's all worked fine, but it was hard to judge where the level of the pipe is now. Too low and it won't flow (uphill) into the waterbutt, too low and it won't flow back into the pipe if it overflows. I expect it all needs to settle too - so now I just wait for the first rain... perhaps I should keep the bit of drainpipe I cut off - just in case.

Still, water butt #1 is now in place. Which means that we'll now not have any rain for at least a month! :)