Water Butt Advice

[StudWall]

Hello All,

Last year i replaced the guttering on the garage roof, and took that opportunity to add a downpipe for a water butt.

The guttering did run along the roof and down a iron downpipe into the ground somewhere? in my wisdom i decided to add another downpipe the other side for the waterbutt. Reason being, putting the waterbutt the same side as the iron pipe would block access to the side of the garden in a opening that is already just big enough to get a motorbike down (yes important ).

In a further stroke of genius i did not connect the guttering to the existing downpipe, as this would have effectively cut my water collection in half, and i want all the rainwater i can get

Now i have considered that all of the water from the garage roof is collecting in the waterbutt, and as it only really takes 1 day of heavy rain to fill up, it will be overflowing all over my patio and (potentially) causing damage to the garage foundation (true?)

So i wonder is there any easy fix, without removing or moving the water butt?
What i really hope for is a way to open / close the downpipe to the waterbutt and the drain so i can fill the water butt when needed and block it off when its full

 

[Notch7]

Rainpipe diverters just make the water continue down the downpipe afaik. In that case you would need somewhere for the water to go near the waterbutt.

Either that or divert from your metal drainpipe across to the water butt

 

[KenGMac]

nerox, good evening.

If you can you could consider installing an outlet, no valves, no other function other than an overflow say 100.mm. below the lip of the Butt.

Now if possible all depends on the garden configuration, you lead the overflow into an adjacent flower bed or similar?

The overflow pipe, flexible or otherwise, should be led to the outfall, one trick at the outfall is to put pinholes in to the pipe as it snakes its way along the flower bed? the obvious attraction is that overspill will be dissipated over a large area at a distance from the garage?

Ken

 

[StudWall]

Thanks for both of your replies.

I think it is going to be difficult to make use of the existing downpipe because the garage door is in the way short of moving the garage door, i don't see any way around that.

I can move the water butt and re-jig the guttering no problem, but wherever i choose to put it, doesn't seem like a good idea.

I wondered about installing some channel drain like this along the wall of the garage.

then i could install a 'proper' downpipe to the floor, with a diverter to the waterbutt. Then the downpipe can empty into that drain and ... somehow ... empty back into whatever is underground at the original downpipe?

 

[KenGMac]

OK why not investigate what the "original" down pipe is discharging into?

That could save you some cash?

The next problem is that there may be no discharge from the "original" down pipe it may simply be running into the ground ???

As an aside prior to the "Modifications" to the rain water system were there any flood issues on the patio?

 

[scbk]

You wouldn't even need the fancy drainage channel, a length of soil pipe or whatever you have to hand, buried just below the surface. Assuming the original downpipe goes somewhere.

How much water do you need? You could store a lot more. A 1000l IBC doesn't take up much more space than a normal water butt. Or daisy chain a couple of containers together.

 

[StudWall]

You wouldn't even need the fancy drainage channel, a length of soil pipe or whatever you have to hand, buried just below the surface. Assuming the original downpipe goes somewhere.

Good point. I am sure the downpipe goes somewhere, it is concreted into the ground at the patio level. I am reluctant to break up the concrete until i am prepared of what may lay beneath, and more importantly, how to repair it

How much water do you need? You could store a lot more. A 1000l IBC doesn't take up much more space than a normal water butt. Or daisy chain a couple of containers together.

I do have another water butt which usually sits behind / to the side and fills from the overflow of the green one, however, a night of heavy rain and both can be full. During the winter it doesn't get used which means all of the rainwater from that roof is going somewhere ... hopefully causing no problems but i would rather be getting rid of it properly

 

[Tigercubrider]

Maybe I am missing something but all the rain diverters I have seen are set up so that when the butt is full, the water flows down the pipe rather than make the butt overflow?
You can set up another waterbutt by linking them together regardless of distance but any pipe may freeze in winter

 

[StudWall]

Maybe I am missing something but all the rain diverters I have seen are set up so that when the butt is full, the water flows down the pipe rather than make the butt overflow?
You can set up another waterbutt by linking them together regardless of distance but any pipe may freeze in winter

Yes, but the problem is i am looking for a way to make that excess water discharge safely into a drain

 

[Tigercubrider]

If the original pipe ran into the ground, there should be a soakaway
Connect the top overflow of the butt back to the original pipe?

 

[StudWall]

If the original pipe ran into the ground, there should be a soakaway
Connect the top overflow of the butt back to the original pipe?

only problem is, the garage door is kind of in the way

 

[big-all]

i worked it out once with water costing £2.11 a tonnne[1000L] i would save perhaps£3-5 a year dependent on weather so the cost would take about 10-15 years to pay for materials