Topic: Rainbutt - how to fix it to my drain pipe

[Jitterbug]

I am interested in purchasing a rainbutt because the tap is around the front of the house and quite someway from my cottage garden - and a rainbutt would save me having to lug water around.  I have inspected the down pipe from the gutters on the roof (end of terrace house) and it has no ground exit but seems to go into the ground (somewhere??)  sorry if it appears a stupid question but back in South Africa the downpipes use to empty on the ground along a concrete funnel / slab structure. 

It would seem (to me ::)) that I would have to cut/puncture the downpipe in some way to get the water into the rainbutt.... but how :-\  Any advice.

[kenkew]

What you have, Jitty is a sealed outlet. Most outlets have an open end which flows into a surface trap (that's the one with a metal grid on it that you can lift off to clean). Both systems actually flow into an underground trap. It doesn't matter which system you have when it comes to fitting a water butt.
 There are slightly different water butt conecting systems but you're right about having to cut into the downpipe regardless. (How else do you get at the water flow?)
It's not a big job unless (like me) you have an old fashioned cast iron pipe. (Can still be done.)
If it's a plastic pipe it's quite a simple job. Basically it means cutting out a section of the down pipe, something like 4/5 inches and lowering the bottom section down slightly and inserting the coupling which comes with the kit. From that coupling there is a smaller pipe which feeds into your butt.
If you go ahead, make sure you get a butt system which allows for overflow; that is, when your butt fills up, the small pipe into it will back up and shut off supply to the butt which allows the water to continue on it's 'normal' path to ground via the fall pipe. Cheaper systems don't do this which means you will have to fit an overflow from the butt side. That's not really an option in your case as you don't have an open trap to catch this overflow type.
(Use a hacksaw to cut your plastic downpipe.)

[Jitterbug]

Thanks for the advice - I see that Stewarts are having a sale on water butts for £19.99will have to go and do a scout about and see if its got the overflow jobbie on it.

As to the actual job of connecting it - I will have to ask DH to do that - I am not allowed near the dangerous tools :-[

[adam04]

i would cut out a chunk of pipe. then make it so the downspout goes into your water butt. at the top of your water butt have a pipe coming out, so when the level of your water butt is too much, it will go into the other pipe and into the main drains.

You could also get a hopper. this is a bucket type thing that wold fix part way up the drain pipe. from it you would ahve two pipes, one going into the main drain and oen into the water butt, as the water goes down the downspout then into the hopper the water would be split across the two pipes, slowly filling the water butt.

[Jitterbug]

Just a quick update.  Went down to Stewart's this week-end.  They have the rainbutt on special at £19.99 and last one in stock.  However, when I asked for the kit for the stopcock etc was told it was an additional £13.99!  Not such a good bargain after all.

Anyone know where I can kind one cheaper?

[ipt8]

Wickes sell a kit that you use on plastic drain pipes but I dont know what they cost. You cut the drain pipe, the kit goes in the gap and collects a portion of the water flowing down the pipe and transfers it to your water but via a small diameter, about 1" pipe. This is a flexible pipe.
I use two of them and they are fine.
I also did a cheap version on my garage by putting the drain pipe straight into the top of the water but, and fixing a small outlet pipe that takes any access back inyo the drain system.

[Gardenantics]

Another tip is to check the height of the outlet tap that you will use to fill your watering can. Annoyingly they are nearly always too low down to get the can under the tap! Make sure you have some system of building up a base for the butt to stand on before you cut into the fall pipe. Bases for waterbutts are sold, but in my oppinion are too expensive for what they are. Good luck on the plumbing.

Brian

[kitty]

ooo-i wouldnt waste money on a butt stand-bricks are fine..

i got my water but from a local salvage man(it used to carry distilled water.whatever for?surely no-one does THAT amount of ironing?)

aaaaanyway-the chap showed me his system-he 'joins' 5 butts together with pipes at the bottom(the first is at the top from the drain pipe of course)this is so they fill and empty from the bottom and avoids 'hullage'which is the technical term for cakky water that lurks at the bottom of buts which breeds nasty things.....
so thats what i've done........
kitty

[kenkew]

Bottom connection between a row of butts is fine if you're after a mainly storage system. All the butts will fill equally and none will be full until they all are. This system requires just one tap on any butt. All the butts will feed the tap at the same time.
Top connections between butts will fill butt 1 before butt 2 starts to fill. This gives a decent head of water from each filled butt. The top 'loaders' do, however require a tap on each butt. Outlet from butt 1 in this system needs to be slightly lower than the input pipe.
On either system, the last butt in-line should have an overflow pipe set just below the input to it.