A remark by someone saying that they were on a water meter and that their
beans were not doing too well made me think. How many of you are on water
meters and DON'T have water butts?

Rain water is FREE.

Forward planning?



--

....................................
Today, is the tomorrow, you were worrying about, yesterday.
....................................

On Thu, 2 Sep 2010 19:49:11 +0100, "'Mike'"
wrote:

A remark by someone saying that they were on a water meter and that their
beans were not doing too well made me think. How many of you are on water
meters and DON'T have water butts?

Rain water is FREE.

Forward planning?

I'm on a meter, and I don't have a water butt.
The problem is, I'm mid-terrace and have no downpipe. Even if I had
one added, I've no soak-away for excess winter water.
Any ideas folks?


Pam in Bristol

'Could' you, I mean is it possible physically, to cut into the gutter and
fit a downpipe AND is there a drain nearby? If so you could fit one of those
gismos which diverts water into the waterbut, but when it is full, water
automatically diverts back to the drain.

'IF' you have a gutter and 'IF' you have a drain

Mike


--

....................................
Today, is the tomorrow, you were worrying about, yesterday.
....................................




"Pam Moore" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 2 Sep 2010 19:49:11 +0100, "'Mike'"
wrote:

A remark by someone saying that they were on a water meter and that their
beans were not doing too well made me think. How many of you are on water
meters and DON'T have water butts?

Rain water is FREE.

Forward planning?

I'm on a meter, and I don't have a water butt.
The problem is, I'm mid-terrace and have no downpipe. Even if I had
one added, I've no soak-away for excess winter water.
Any ideas folks?


Pam in Bristol

On Thu, 2 Sep 2010 23:27:05 +0100, Mike wrote:

'IF' you have a gutter and 'IF' you have a drain

And it's legal to put surface water into that drain... Mind you if
it's round the back I doubt anyone would find out. B-)

Has one of the OP's neighbours got a down pipe near the boundary?
Maybe a divertor could be fitted into that fed to butts each side?
One for the neigbour so they get some benfit from the having the
divertor, butts linked at the top so you can't use "their" water and
yours fills after theirs.

--
Cheers
Dave.

"Dave Liquorice" wrote in message
ll.co.uk...
On Thu, 2 Sep 2010 23:27:05 +0100, Mike wrote:

'IF' you have a gutter and 'IF' you have a drain

And it's legal to put surface water into that drain...

It's a very interesting and informative argument as to who 'owns' rainwater.
Once it is on the ground it is the person who owns that bit of ground, such
as your garden, your rain. However that falling on the highway, whether
direct or via your drive, it belongs to those who maintain or own the
highway, such as the local council. BUT, if the highway authority feel that
there is too much water and want to put a drain in, they must seek
permission from the water authority who services the waste water as it is
their responsibility once it is in the drain and they have the right to say
'no more drains thankyou'.

Therefore, as Dave says, if there is a drain, it is perfectly legal to put
that surface water down the drain. But don't ask for one if there isn't one
there because there is no guarantee you will get it.

Been there, done that, got the wet tee shirt.

Mike


--

....................................
Today, is the tomorrow, you were worrying about, yesterday.
....................................

On 3 Sep, 16:18, "'Mike'" wrote:
"Dave Liquorice" wrote in message

ll.co.uk...

On Thu, 2 Sep 2010 23:27:05 +0100, Mike wrote:

'IF' you have a gutter and 'IF' you have a drain

And it's legal to put surface water into that drain...

It's a very interesting and informative argument as to who 'owns' rainwater.
Once it is on the ground it is the person who owns that bit of ground, such
as your garden, your rain. However that falling on the highway, whether
direct or via your drive, it belongs to those who maintain or own the
highway, such as the local council. BUT, if the highway authority feel that
there is too much water and want to put a drain in, they must seek
permission from the water authority who services the waste water as it is
their responsibility once it is in the drain and they have the right to say
'no more drains thankyou'.

Therefore, as Dave says, if there is a drain, it is perfectly legal to put
that surface water down the drain. But don't ask for one if there isn't one
there because there is no guarantee you will get it.

Been there, done that, got the wet tee shirt.

Mike

--

...................................
Today, is the tomorrow, you were worrying about, yesterday.
...................................

Rain water is owned by you until it leaves your property when it
becomes the property of the local water supply company.. Any other
water, springs streams etc is also owned by them. You need to buy a
licence to remove water fro a spring or stream. Supposing they find
out. You need a different licence to dam a stream.

There was a case a few years back when the water companies claimed
that rain was their's. Someone sued them for damages because their
rain came in his roof. Norfolk somewhere I think it was. They
canceded rain after that.
Now we need someone to sue them whem the river comes into their
house:-)

On Thu, 2 Sep 2010 23:27:05 +0100, "'Mike'"
wrote:

'Could' you, I mean is it possible physically, to cut into the gutter and
fit a downpipe AND is there a drain nearby? If so you could fit one of those
gismos which diverts water into the waterbut, but when it is full, water
automatically diverts back to the drain.

'IF' you have a gutter and 'IF' you have a drain

Mike

I have a gutter but no downpope, no drain. The downpipes on both sides
are 2 doors away, not even next door and my neighbours are not
gardeners.
Is there any way I could shut off the downpipe when the butt was full?
It's bothered me for years.


Pam in Bristol

"Pam Moore" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 2 Sep 2010 23:27:05 +0100, "'Mike'"
wrote:

'Could' you, I mean is it possible physically, to cut into the gutter and
fit a downpipe AND is there a drain nearby? If so you could fit one of
those
gismos which diverts water into the waterbut, but when it is full, water
automatically diverts back to the drain.

'IF' you have a gutter and 'IF' you have a drain

Mike

I have a gutter but no downpope, no drain. The downpipes on both sides
are 2 doors away, not even next door and my neighbours are not
gardeners.
Is there any way I could shut off the downpipe when the butt was full?
It's bothered me for years.


Pam in Bristol

I feel that you are on a looser here Pam because of the two down pipes being
two doors away. I would imagine that your bit of gutter is at the highest
point of the run i.e. water entering the gutter from your bit of roof,
either goes left or right looking for a downpipe, the chances are that very
little water is in your bit of gutter.

And no, not as far as I am aware is there a way of fitting a tap in a
downpipe. In any case the joints are not 'waterproof' and if a tap were
fitted just above the butt, water still in the pipe would leak out through
the joints unless all joints were sealed.

Another thought, but might not be worth the expense, are there any drain
runs going across the back of your house? If so a junction called a 'rodding
point' could be fitted and a drain put in for you. I had to do this when we
re-organised the house and moved the kitchen to a larger room turning it
into a farmhouse kitchen and giving us a fabulous garden room where the old
kitchen was.

Just a few more thoughts

Mike
--

....................................
Today, is the tomorrow, you were worrying about, yesterday.
....................................

On 4 Sep, 12:49, "'Mike'" wrote:
"Pam Moore" wrote in message

...





On Thu, 2 Sep 2010 23:27:05 +0100, "'Mike'"
wrote:

'Could' you, I mean is it possible physically, to cut into the gutter and
fit a downpipe AND is there a drain nearby? If so you could fit one of
those
gismos which diverts water into the waterbut, but when it is full, water
automatically diverts back to the drain.

'IF' you have a gutter and 'IF' you have a drain

Mike

I have a gutter but no downpope, no drain. The downpipes on both sides
are 2 doors away, not even next door and my neighbours are not
gardeners.
Is there any way I could shut off the downpipe when the butt was full?
It's bothered me for years.

Pam in Bristol

I feel that you are on a looser here Pam because of the two down pipes being
two doors away. I would imagine that your bit of gutter is at the highest
point of the run i.e. water entering the gutter from your bit of roof,
either goes left or right looking for a downpipe, the chances are that very
little water is in your bit of gutter.

And no, not as far as I am aware is there a way of fitting a tap in a
downpipe. In any case the joints are not 'waterproof' and if a tap were
fitted just above the butt, water still in the pipe would leak out through
the joints unless all joints were sealed.

This assumes that normal downpipe bore is required. A butt should fill
eventually with a much narrower pipe which could be properly sealed,
but make the tap removable for rodding out the roof debris which will
inevitably clog it.

Also, does the OP have any smaller roofs available? After all, many an
allotment butt fills from its tiny tool shed. I have a small butt
which fills from gutters on a tool bunker and raised cold frame.

Chris

On Sat, 4 Sep 2010 12:49:55 +0100, "'Mike'"
wrote:




"Pam Moore" wrote in message
.. .
On Thu, 2 Sep 2010 23:27:05 +0100, "'Mike'"
wrote:

'Could' you, I mean is it possible physically, to cut into the gutter and
fit a downpipe AND is there a drain nearby? If so you could fit one of
those
gismos which diverts water into the waterbut, but when it is full, water
automatically diverts back to the drain.

'IF' you have a gutter and 'IF' you have a drain

Mike

I have a gutter but no downpope, no drain. The downpipes on both sides
are 2 doors away, not even next door and my neighbours are not
gardeners.
Is there any way I could shut off the downpipe when the butt was full?
It's bothered me for years.


Pam in Bristol

I feel that you are on a looser here Pam because of the two down pipes being
two doors away. I would imagine that your bit of gutter is at the highest
point of the run i.e. water entering the gutter from your bit of roof,
either goes left or right looking for a downpipe, the chances are that very
little water is in your bit of gutter.

And no, not as far as I am aware is there a way of fitting a tap in a
downpipe. In any case the joints are not 'waterproof' and if a tap were
fitted just above the butt, water still in the pipe would leak out through
the joints unless all joints were sealed.

Another thought, but might not be worth the expense, are there any drain
runs going across the back of your house? If so a junction called a 'rodding
point' could be fitted and a drain put in for you. I had to do this when we
re-organised the house and moved the kitchen to a larger room turning it
into a farmhouse kitchen and giving us a fabulous garden room where the old
kitchen was.

Just a few more thoughts

Mike

Thanks Mike for your thoughts. I'm afraid you are right and it's just
not worth it. I've a very small garden. I'm not aware of any drains
across my garden but Imust enquire.

Pam in Bristol

"Pam Moore" wrote in message
...

I'm on a meter, and I don't have a water butt.
The problem is, I'm mid-terrace and have no downpipe. Even if I had
one added, I've no soak-away for excess winter water.
Any ideas folks?

Pam in Bristol

Tap in the downpipe perhaps.

Pete

Pete, read the words.

--

....................................
Today, is the tomorrow, you were worrying about, yesterday.
....................................




"Pete" wrote in message
...


"Pam Moore" wrote in message
...

I'm on a meter, and I don't have a water butt.
The problem is, I'm mid-terrace and have no downpipe. Even if I had
one added, I've no soak-away for excess winter water.
Any ideas folks?

Pam in Bristol

Tap in the downpipe perhaps.

Pete

On 2 Sep, 23:20, Pam Moore wrote:
On Thu, 2 Sep 2010 19:49:11 +0100, "'Mike'"

wrote:
A remark by someone saying that they were on a water meter and that their
beans were not doing too well made me think. How many of you are on water
meters and DON'T have water butts?

Rain water is FREE.

Forward planning?

I'm on a meter, and I don't have a water butt.
The problem is, I'm mid-terrace and have no downpipe. *Even if I had
one added, I've no soak-away for excess winter water. *
Any ideas folks?

Pam in Bristol

Whilst I do have water butts, they don't store enough for a prolonged
dry spell. I augment them by keeping a bucket under the kitchen tap to
collect everything from rinsing hands to straining vegetables. It's
surprising how quickly it fills, especially once the crops ripen and
need washing. In a really dry spell the washing-up water goes onto the
garden too.

Whilst I do have a soakaway near the butt, I have toyed with the idea
of directing the overflow around the garden in leaky hoses. Has anyone
tried this? Do the ones that look like porous rubber leak fast enough
for a downpour, or would it be better to drill decent-sized holes in a
real hose?

Chris

On 2010-09-04 01:26:27 +0100, said:

(snip)

Whilst I do have a soakaway near the butt, I have toyed with the idea
of directing the overflow around the garden in leaky hoses. Has anyone
tried this? Do the ones that look like porous rubber leak fast enough
for a downpour, or would it be better to drill decent-sized holes in a
real hose?

A porous hose should keep up with the flow. Gravity feed won't deliver
the water uphill though so it may be a good idea to raise the butt as
high as possible, eg on bricks.

Hozelock make a porous hose kit for use with water butts:
http://www.hozelock.com/watering/aut...-kit-2817.html

Piercing

a normal hose will likely be sub-optimal as it requires more than
gravity pressure to send the water down its full length and there would
anyway be a tendency for the early holes to eject more water than the
later holes.

On Sat, 4 Sep 2010 09:28:05 +0100, Stan The Man wrote:

a normal hose will likely be sub-optimal as it requires more than
gravity pressure to send the water down its full length ...

Eh? My 50m hose works feed by gravity alone and from an outside tap
on a long convoluted 15mm pipe run from the tank. OK the tank is in
the roof space so about 20' of head compared to only a foot or so for
a butt but water will find its level.

Are there any figures on the leakage rate for leaky hoses and at what
pressure and unit lenght? Just a maths excercise after that if you
know the area of the roof that is being drained by the down pipe and
assume say 1mm/hr rain fall.

--
Cheers
Dave.