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Water Butts - All You need to know

Saving water with a water butt

It makes sense to save rainwater with a water butt and provide your plants with lots of water whenever they need it, without having to run the water from the mains.

Butts are really easy to attach to your house, shed, garage or any other garden building that has a gutter and a down pipe so you can start saving water straightaway! And if a building such as greenhouse doesn’t have this, then consider having them fitted as you could save water – many litres of it doing so. It is estimated that on average around 24,000 litres of water can be saved from each house roof every year by collecting rainwater this way.

Choosing your water butt for best water conservation achievements

Water butts are available in lots of shapes and sizes and can hold between 100 and 700 litres of water. Most are barrel like style, but some are more streamlined for fitting in tight spaces. If you don’t have much room but still want to save water in the garden – don’t worry as we have a range of water butts that do not need much space. Choose from 100L Slimline Water Butt Kit, Standard Barrel 210LWater Butt Kit or even our 250L Super Space Saver Water Butt Kit. The most useful water butts have a tap for filling watering cans easily, which all of our water butts come with as standard. All our water butts also come with a stand so the tap is at the right height to fit a watering can underneath, for even easier water efficiency. If you are after a fancier style, look at our range of premium water butts. They not only look great but still save water effectively. Why not choose Prestige 100L Wall Mounted Water Butt Kit or Terracottage Wallmounted 160L Water Butts both of which can be hungon the wall. For a more old-school style, select from our Oakwood Effect 120L Water Butt Kit or Slimline Polybutt 110 Litre Oak Water Butt Kit. Save water with whichever water butt you choose.

How to fit a water butt

There are two ways to fit a water butt. The easiest way is to cut through the plastic down pipe and place the butt directly underneath it. An overflow pipe can be attached to the butt to channel away excess water to a drain or to another butt.

Alternatively, cut a notch out of the pipe and fit a rain trap and connecting pipe, this will transport water to the butt and allows you to place it in the most suitable place. All of our water efficient water butts come with a free Downpipe Connector Kit.

Maintaining your water butt

Keep your water butt well covered to prevent debris falling in or algae, slime or scum from forming. If this appears try adding a few drops of a biological rainwater treatment which should keep it clean for up to five months. Why not try our Fresha Tank Microbial Disc which is suitable for around 200 litres of water.