Saving water in the garden?

Question

I would like a water butt in my garden to save water. I have no down pipe as the guttering goes from my house right across to my neighbours and they have the down pipe in their garden. How else can i save water in my garden?

Answer 1

You can't just put a downpipe anywhere ( as suggested somewhere above )

You'd need to consider what would happen to the water once your butt was full ( excuse the phrasing ! )

If you put a downpipe in, you'd also need a connection to the mains drainage or a soakaway, and it sounds like you have neither.

butts on greenhouses and sheds collect a lot of water. Although a normal 200 litre water butt doesn't last very long in a dry spell.

you could dig a small pond, line it with clay. Let it fill and pump it onto the garden using either a hand pump or a small electric submersible pump. Don't make a pond from concrete or a pre-formed fibreglass, they are environmentally unsound.

recent expereince has taught me that the best way to colect rain is to buy a new TV and leave it outside for 30 seconds. You'll find that what seems like a perfectly sunny day soon turns into a downpour and your new TV and box act as perfect rainwater collectors.

Answer 2

To start with, plant natives to your area, or plants that do well in your type of environment. Use a thick good quality mulch to conserve water, and when planting use a good water crystal in the soil. When running a shower, catch the cold water in a bucket as you wait for the hot water to come through. Also have buckets to catch run off in the shower, and use these buckets on the garden. If you're really keen, save the rinse water from each washing load and re-use it to wash the next load. When you've finished all your washing, use the final rinse water to put on the garden. Water in the evening so that the water has a chance to soak in before the sun comes up. If you have the money, install rainwater tanks. Oh... and here's a fun rhyme for the toilet... if it's yellow, let it mellow, if it's brown, flush it down! When rinsing things like coffee and tea cups, tip the rinse water into a bucket and use it on the garden. If you're washing vegetables, use a plastic container in the sink, then pour off the wash water into the garden. If none of this appeals, simply call the local concretor and get the lot covered in cement. Then use a broom, not the hose to keep it all clean!

Answer 3

you could use the same kind of container as a water butt without needing a downpipe. It just need to be able to collect as much rainwater as possible so make sure it has a wide top etc.

As long as you are not growing food crops its quite safe to use grey water. This is used water from the house such as washing up water and bath water as long as strong chemical such as bleach have been used.

You can also make sure that you choose plants to go in the garden that do not require a great deal of watering. This can be done by using plants with good root systems or ones that have their own methods of reducing water loss through leaves.

Answer 4

Anywhere on your own gutter.
Buy a tee section and fit your own down pipe.

All you need is a wood saw and the correct section to suit.
You can then fit a diverter valve switching it between your water butt and the gutter

Answer 5

Do you have a shed or a greenhouse? If you do, you could attach some guttering and a downpipe from its roof, and put a water butt under that.

Answer 6

Get a large, wide-topped container and leave it in your garden somewhere - it will soon fill up with rainwater.