BOB FLOWERDEW
Some very inventive ways to store more water
HERE’S how to make your plants happier – and maybe save some cash as well. We could all store a little more rainwater than we do now. Plastic butts are not expensive and by just standing another beside an existing one you’ve doubled up straightaway.
Two butts could also support a shelf of plants between them and be doubly useful, then you could fit a third…
Of course the problem is you’ll eventually run out of space. The answer is to connect the butt plumbed in to the downpipe to others hidden somewhere out of the way, and you can do this with a siphon: a hosepipe weighted and hung down to the bottom in each butt which, once filled with water, keeps the level in both butts the same.
Then there are those odd roofs – from the bike shed to the dog kennel – which may have runoff going to waste. Fit gutters with water butts to each of these and you’ll collect even more rain.
There are many cheaper alternatives to butts such as recycled juice containers and dead chest freezers. I’ve even seen a row of wheel-less wheelie bins all linked together.
The whole point is get those gutters, butts and barrels fitted now so they can start saving the coming winter rain till your garden needs it next year. Then your plants roots will much prefer rainwater from butts to that from a hose connected to a tap as it’s free of chlorine and so much warmer.
So not only will your plants be happier, but if you’re on a water meter you’ll save a little cash, and maybe more than you think.
Remember you not only pay for the water you use but most households also pay a sewage and drainage rate – and that’s usually based on your water usage. So use less from the hose and you save not once, but twice.
“Get those gutters, butts and barrels fitted now”