Topic: Any restrcitions on number of water butts?

[MattD]

Has anyone ever heard of a restriction on the number of water butts a householder is allowed to use to collect rainwater from their gutters?

My mum is convinced that she's only "allowed" to have two. She's currently got 8 of them and when I suggested that she get a couple of 1000L jobs off ebay she began to think she might get arrested.

I have searched the web and not found any UK water company which says there is a restriction.  In fact they all encourage it.  Given that it all goes down rainwater drains into the local river it's not as if it's depriving the aquifers.

Anyone heard of such a restriction?

Matt

[glow777]

I live near the peak park (but thankfully just outside) and its the kind of silly thing they would do.

Where does your mum live? I imagine any restrictions would be a local council thing

[kitten]

I wonder if the local council are saying that each householder can only purchase two water butts at a special price (you know, how they sell them cheap to encourage people to collect water, but usually put a limit on the number each household can purchase?) Our local council certainly did this when selling home composter daleks recently. I'm wondering if she's got it confused with that? x

[moonbells]

Our council restricts how many you can buy at the reduced price: I can't think that anyone would restrict how many are actually used. I've got two at home and three at the lottie plus two old water tanks. And only actually paid for three of them - rest were acquired from the town dump and repaired!

moonbells

[tim]

And we have 9!

[kt.]

We have 8 at the lottie. Mostly from skips and builders yards. As my lottie is in an awkward place from the shared tap I need all the ones I can get.

[glow777]

34 big blue barrels at the lottie - im not running out of water this year!

[kt.]

34 big blue barrels at the lottie - im not running out of water this year!

34 :o    Have you got any room left to plant ;D

[glow777]

They hide quite well - 10 down the back of a greenhouse, 8 by my hen house, 8 behind a shed - all are on ground not suitable for growing or against the wall etc.
All are now full which is just as well as half the guttering system has been blown down

[tim]

A record?

[manicscousers]

where do you get them from, glow777 ?, we're looking for some more  :)

[Columbus]

Hi Matt, Hi all,

I have four on my first plot and I`m planning something similar on my second plot. I live in a flat with no outdoor space so I can`t collect water at home. I`ve seen pictures online of commercial greenhouses with interconnected guttering feeding into large tanks, and Norfolk farms often seem to have irrigation ponds dug out to drain land then store and reuse water.

I`d say have as many as you like but don`t draw attention to them.

Col

[glow777]

where do you get them from, glow777 ?, we're looking for some more  :)

Work ....  I can get three in my car at a time (so 15 a week!). We don't have as many as we used to as we have started using the big square refillable tanks. However me and my neighbours all have enough now:-)
Although I work with computers for a living I do the IT for a large factory so there is plenty of waste wood, plastic & buckets etc that we would normally have to pay £8 a ton to tip on our own land, so people are happy to let me take it. We arent even allowed to burn our own waste wood and paper - the joys of working in the peak district

[manicscousers]

what a gold mine,  ;D

[kt.]

Work ....  I can get three in my car at a time (so 15 a week!).

It is getting more difficult to get hold of additional blue barrels / water butts that so many people in lotties use. Guess one of the reasons is that most industry is also updating itself on recycling stuff. Took me 3yrs to get 8

[glow777]

what a gold mine,  ;D

You wouldnt say that after sawing the lids off them all

[manicscousers]

yes, and drilling holes in them all to attach one to another, we have 15 on our plots and ray and steve did them all, so I've been told how hard it is  ;D ;D

[glow777]

yes, and drilling holes in them all to attach one to another, we have 15 on our plots and ray and steve did them all, so I've been told how hard it is  ;D ;D

why drill holes? i just put a permanent siphon hose across the barrels and the water level averages out across the cluster of barrels. You also get the barrels 100% full as well (if you have level ground)

[manicscousers]

nothing to do with me, it keeps them busy, I just concentrate on the planting  ;D ;D ;D

[glow777]

Actually until I had a count up I didn't really think I had that many butts, my wife thinks I am slightly obsessed with them!


Pic 1 shows 2 under the potting shed window on the left (shed built with wood from work) 6 butts in front of my chicken house (there are a couple inside as well to catch the water of the hens roof) a shed made from pallet wood to the right has 3 on the leftside(with wood stacked on top) and 5 hidden down the right side. These are all emptied by the front barrel.

that reminds me must fix the roof!

looking behind one greenhouse there are two rows of 5 butts hard to tell from this pic

BTW the new bed with the straw is where the asparagus has gone in (and mulched ala supersprout!) the high raised beds are baths with garlic and welsh onions in them.

Finally I have odd groups of butts dotted around like in the pic below

This shows the area of my plot I have just acquired and is somewhat underconstruction. The pallets on the floor are where I'm going to build a summerhouse for the wife, kids and foster dogs. The area at the back is hen area two (you can just see custard strutting her stuff!), burning area and picnic zone.



But it all looks a bit manky (or minging as my daughters would say) at this time of year!

Glow