Topic: Syphon from butts ?

[admjh1]

 ???I was wondering if there was anything on the market like a syphon to be
able to water my lofty from my water butts I do not have a
water supply and the thought of keep filling my can a hundred times
a day after work to water fills me with fear.I am also wondering if I could with-hold the water
part of my rent paid it last year as a newby but now really
upset at being charged yet blinking have no supply x

[Robert_Brenchley]

If you don't have a supply I fail to see how they can charge you for one! Put your butts up on blocks, and put a tap in the bottom of each one.

[Chrispy]

I agree, how can they charge for water if you don't have any.

As Robert says, water butts come with a tap, or fit one if it does not.
You can fit a hose to the tap, but unless your but is a lot higher up you won't get much pressure, so you will find the watering can option easier.
If you want to get more pressure, you can get small pumps, powered from the mains or 12V supply.

Having said all that, pumps or even hoses from a butt is a bad idea, simply because you will have limited water supply, so you do not want to waste a drop, so a watering can is the best bet.

[tonybloke]

be wary of taps in waterbutts, they can be either left on, or turned on by intruders!! much quicker to 'dip 'n' fill' your watering cans.
 ;)

[Digeroo]

If you pay for water, you should insist on getting it.  There is also no reason not to get a refund on last year as well if no water was supplied.

[antipodes]

Remember too all the ways in which you can save water, by heavily mulching for example! Then you won't need to water so often or so much.

[tomatoada]

???I was wondering if there was anything on the market like a syphon to be
able to water my lofty from my water butts I do not have a
water supply and the thought of keep filling my can a hundred times
a day after work to water fills me with fear.I am also wondering if I could with-hold the water
part of my rent paid it last year as a newby but now really
upset at being charged yet blinking have no supply x

I was hoping you would a get a suggestion in answer to your post.   I would like to do the same as it is quite a long way for me from my water butt to the end patch of my allotment, and  the tap on my water butt keeps blocking. 
Also I would like to use my bath water onto the garden at home.

[Chrispy]

I have seen a contraption for baths. When you have finished your bath, you replace the plug with this thing, it is held in place by the pressure, you then attach a hose and you siphon the water out of your bath and into your garden.

Sorry, can't remember where I saw it.

Bit like this http://www.recycleworks.co.uk/the-indispensable-syphon-pr-16211.html but held it's self in the bottom of the bath.

[Old bird]

It is quite simple to make your own siphon - providing of course that the water needs to proceed downhill.

What you need is a piece of hosepipe and you put one end in the butt and the other you suck until you get water coming out and then it will just gently keep coming provided that the end in the butt doesn't ever get above the level of water and the other end stays below the lowest part of the butt and always in the water.  You can stop it by just stopping the water coming out and you can store it like that (with a bung or whatever in the end) and restart as and when you need water. 

It doesnt come out with any pressure though!  I use this principle to keep my bath topped up from my large water storage container and into my polytunnel and it works a treat!

O B

[Amazingrotavator(Derby)]

I have a pump to which I attach my hose which reaches all over our lotte.It is run by a small generator(240v). They can be bought in B&Q. They are called water butt pumps.They put the water where it is wanted.Well worth the investment.

[Digeroo]

When we have had hose pipe bans I immersed the hose pipe into the bath (after use)and then threw one end out of the window holding one end closed as long as possible.  If you are lucky it will siphon, if not you have to try again.

Being upstairs you get a small amount of pressure.  Helps to ration the water.

[Robert_Brenchley]

When you suck you tend to get a mouthful, so be careful what you suck. I once sucked too hard in the chemistry lab at school, and got a mouthful of caustic soda. I'll never forget the intense metallic taste of the stuff!

[lincsyokel2]

When you suck you tend to get a mouthful, so be careful what you suck. I once sucked too hard in the chemistry lab at school, and got a mouthful of caustic soda. I'll never forget the intense metallic taste of the stuff!

You wait till you've tried petrol, you can taste it for weeks afterwards.

[artichoke]

I use a syphon regularly, a very long one, as fortunately both my plots are downhill from the water supply. I certainly don't suck it to start it (used to do that to syphon cider out of the barrels we made it in, though) but simply pour water into the water tank end of the hose pipe from a watering can, holding the nozzle tightly onto the hosepipe with spare hand. The rest of the hose is stretched out down the hill with no kinks. The idea is to fill most of it with water from the can, to start the suction.

After a bit I plunge my end of the hosepipe into the tank, and usually feel the water starting to flow strongly into it, down the hill. If it doesn't start at once, another go with the can.

We are not allowed to fasten hose pipes to the tanks, so a syphon is an alternative to all that can carrying.

I did once have a plastic device on which you squeeze a bulb to start the water/cider/petrol flowing, but can't remember where I got it. Dyas?