On 7 Oct 2005 03:22:45 -0700, "fingers"
wrote:

. The water butt comes with a rain diverter kit. How does this work?
From the pics it looks like you saw the downpipe and insert the
diverter and it diverts the rain through a hosepipe into the butt.
. What happens if there is a torrential downpour as the hosepipe won't
cope with all the water?
. How does it prevent the butt from overflowing?
. Is there a maximum length for the diverter hosepipe?


The diverters consist of a short length of pipe with a sort of annular
gutter on the inside, but with a hole down through the middle. You cut
a short length out of your existing down-pipe and insert the diverter.
It has to be positioned at exactly the same height as the surface of
the water in the butt, or alternatively the butt height needs to be
adjusted to achieve the same.

They work because when rain water runs down the down-pipe, it always
runs down the inner surface (not as a jet down the middle, for
example), and gets caught by the gutter on the diverter and directed
out into your butt. When the butt is full, or if there is a heavy
downpour as you mention, the water backs up from the butt and
overflows the little gutter down through the central hole, and
continues down the down-pipe in the normal way. This is why the water
surface in the full butt _has_ to be level with the outlet pipe on the
diverter. If the diverter is too high, the butt itself will just
overflow when full. If the diverter is too low, no water will ever
flow into the butt.

They're useful if your down-pipe disappears into the ground and links
with a drain or whatever, as they allow the butt to fill but prevent
the excess water from going all over your patio/garden path/whatever.
But if the down-pipe just discharges onto the ground or into an open
drain-cover, don't bother with a diverter. Just cut the down-pipe off
at the appropriate level and direct the entire output into the butt
using an ordinary angled spout, and arrange an appropriate overflow
from the butt directed to wherever you like.



--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net