I want to put water butts under my cast iron downpipes.
Downpipes are 100x75mm, and the nearest joint above water butt is about 8' from ground.
Water butts are 1400mm High x 555mm Deep x 650mm wide (465 Litres). I'd like to stand them on some blocks to raise them up a bit.
I was thinking to place the Butt just to the side of the existing downpipe, disconnect it at the joint above, and fit a side-offset projection (if I can afford them - they cost more than the water butt itself
)
to aim into the water butt. Then fit an overflow from butt back to the original drain.
I was wondering if I should replace the vertical section in winter? (i.e. drain & bypass the water butt to prevent damage from freezing). Or I could just open the tap and put some hose to the drain (slow running, but should the butt fill the overflow will still work).
If no need to refit the original pipe in winter then it would probably be better if I cut the lower section of cast iron to a more suitable point and fit the side-offset there, just above the water butt?
Can I just take that section into the garage, secure it with vice / clamps, and use Mr Angle Grinder to cut it? or is cast iron more brittle to work with than that?
I would like to fit some sort of filter. I thought about something like this:
but it is the wrong size for my downpipe, perhaps an alternative to the side-offset would be to fit converter to round
and then the filter (and a round downpipe to the drain), but I am sceptical that the "hose" will collect enough of the flow - I presume that 100x75mm downpipes were used because the roof is relatively large? Each downpipe is collecting from about 80 sq.m. of roof (allowing for "reasonably" heaviest rainfall of 20 mm per hour, on 80 sq.m. I make that about 0.5L per second)
Alternative is that I put Granny's Tights over the outlet and empty them out once in a while?
Downpipes are 100x75mm, and the nearest joint above water butt is about 8' from ground.
Water butts are 1400mm High x 555mm Deep x 650mm wide (465 Litres). I'd like to stand them on some blocks to raise them up a bit.
I was thinking to place the Butt just to the side of the existing downpipe, disconnect it at the joint above, and fit a side-offset projection (if I can afford them - they cost more than the water butt itself
)
to aim into the water butt. Then fit an overflow from butt back to the original drain.
I was wondering if I should replace the vertical section in winter? (i.e. drain & bypass the water butt to prevent damage from freezing). Or I could just open the tap and put some hose to the drain (slow running, but should the butt fill the overflow will still work).
If no need to refit the original pipe in winter then it would probably be better if I cut the lower section of cast iron to a more suitable point and fit the side-offset there, just above the water butt?
Can I just take that section into the garage, secure it with vice / clamps, and use Mr Angle Grinder to cut it? or is cast iron more brittle to work with than that?
I would like to fit some sort of filter. I thought about something like this:
but it is the wrong size for my downpipe, perhaps an alternative to the side-offset would be to fit converter to round
and then the filter (and a round downpipe to the drain), but I am sceptical that the "hose" will collect enough of the flow - I presume that 100x75mm downpipes were used because the roof is relatively large? Each downpipe is collecting from about 80 sq.m. of roof (allowing for "reasonably" heaviest rainfall of 20 mm per hour, on 80 sq.m. I make that about 0.5L per second)
Alternative is that I put Granny's Tights over the outlet and empty them out once in a while?
