[lfcevans]

I going to put my old plastic bin to good use as a water butt, but I havent really got anywere in my garden to collect rainwater in a water butt. I have 3 downspouts from my guttering, that all come down in well used 3 ft pathways. If I was to put a water butt next to a downspout to catch the water, it would make it difficult to get past it.

I was told by a local aquatics amatuer that if I was to fill a large container (my old plastic bin)with tap water, and leave it for a week or so, it would be as good as rainwater because all the chemicals would have evapourated. He said that its what he does for his ponds so that it was good for his fish because his fish would get irritated by the chlorine in his neat tap water.

I need to have a supple of good water for my acid loving plants, so I really need ideas on how to do it, have any of you come up with something to combat not being able to collect rain water from the conventional downspout diversion ?

 

[JayG]

Your friend is correct; most of the chlorine in tap water does disperse after a few days of being left open to the air, but it still doesn't turn tap water into the equivalent of rain water.

Is your tap water hard or soft? If it is very soft you would be OK using it on your ericaceous plants, otherwise you will have to devise a plan to harvest rainwater, and I'm afraid the most abundant source is via roofs (house, shed, greenhouse, or at a push something you could rig up using corrugate plastic draining into your bin.)

(I'll move your question into "Design and Construction" as it's not really a "Growing your Own" topic.)

[billathome65]

I put mine to good use.

[Alastair-I]

I was told by a local aquatics amatuer that if I was to fill a large container (my old plastic bin)with tap water, and leave it for a week or so, it would be as good as rainwater because all the chemicals would have evapourated. He said that its what he does for his ponds so that it was good for his fish because his fish would get irritated by the chlorine in his neat tap water.

I need to have a supple of good water for my acid loving plants, so I really need ideas on how to do it, have any of you come up with something to combat not being able to collect rain water from the conventional downspout diversion ?

Allowing tapwater to stand will allow the chlorine to gas-out.  However it won't affect the hardness or pH.  Hard, alkaline water (the vast majority of tapwater is alkaline) will remain that way.  You can soften hard water using peat pillows steeped in the water, but it's nof going to be effective for large volumes.

The downspouts might come down the wall next to the narrow paths.. but is there anywhere else you could put the water buts?  Tap into the downspouts with a water but connector and you can run a soft hose or rigid pipe (15mm or 32mm pushfit) around the wall to where the water buts are.  As long as the pipe has a falling gradient (no matter how shallow) between the interceptor and the but (it can go up-hill for a while in stretches as long as it doesn't go above the height of the intercepter point) the water can be piped to wherever it's convenient to store it.

[Trillium]

Once the chlorine and chemicals have evaporated from tap water, you can add some vinegar to acidify it for your acid loving plants. mark the container so you won't forget which is which.

There's no specific ratio of vinegar to water, just use your judgement and don't be too heavy handed.

[lfcevans]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

So my aquatics friend was basically right....but wrong 

Bill, nice pipework   

Alastair, There is only one place for the butt to go really without partly blocking any path, but trying to find a way of piping the water to the butt, either overhead (if posiible), or underfoot from my conservatory guttering. The guttering from my conservatory would be the source of the rain water.

Trillium, I think...at the moment, I will go with your suggestion. I`m using an old black plastic bin (not wheely type) so will fill it to the top, and add about half a bottle of vinegar in a few days. Do you think that would be sufficient ?

[Lardman]

you can add some vinegar to acidify it for your acid loving plants

I've just been reading some stuff from our hydroponic growing friends (you know - those ones)  and they seem to think that doesn't work very well. Recommendation are for "ph down" products which seem to be available everywhere - just follow the funny smoke smell or from aquatic type places.

[lfcevans]

I`ve got around the problem.

2 X Narrow water butts, 100 ltr each, only £19.99 each special offer from argos.

I priced up various plastic containers that I could have "made fit", but it still would have cost me money for the diverter and fixings(tap), so £20 isnt to bad especially when the cheapest container I found of the right shape and size was £60 without fixings or stand. I was looking at the containers that car valetters use in their vans. They`re about 30cm X 90cm X 60cm holding 175 ltrs water

The argos ones are 38cm Square X 90 cm high (excluding stand). They come with a water diverter each and all the fixings and the stands. As luck would have it, as soon as I finished setting them up, it started raining.

I should have done a little more research before buying 2 rather than just the 1. Will I get 200 ltrs from 200 square feet of roof area. I would obviously like to have to much rather than to little though.

As I write.....its stopped raining     

[JayG]

I should have done a little more research before buying 2 rather than just the 1. Will I get 200 ltrs from 200 square feet of roof area. I would obviously like to have to much rather than to little though.

One inch of rain collected by your roof is 200 x 144 = 28,800 cubic inches of rain.

An Imperial gallon is 277.4 cubic inches.

Therefore, an inch of rain (assuming you managed to collect it all!!) would produce about 104 gallons....

.......which is 472 litres.

So, half an inch of rain would be more than enough to fill both of them (but where is it?!)   

[Runwell-Steve]

You can quite easily reduce the Alkalinity of your Tap Water by adding Acid.  Vinegar is not really cost effective, but their are various products which will reduce your Alkalinity.

I use a Calcium Reducing Solution (CRS) to reduce the Alkalinity of my tap water which I have to do for brewing beer.

As an alternative solution if you are into hard work, dig up your path and dig a large hole, submerge an enormous water Butt, and put a pump in it.  Then relay your path. 

You will need a big water butt though.  I have 10 x 200 Litre water butts which I easily empty in the summer when watering all my Acers.

[Kleftiwallah]

Here is my rain water diverter,  believe it or not, beneath the ivy is a water butt.  Inside the butt is a ball (off a ball cock) attached to a s/s rod, as the butt fills the ball pushes up on the rod wich closes a semicircle ball into a similar sized cup closing off this butt and diverting the water along to a much larger butt at the other end of the garden.    Simples !

Cheers,   Tony.

[lfcevans]

Nice job   

[JayG]

I`ve got around the problem.

2 X Narrow water butts, 100 ltr each, only £19.99 each special offer from argos.

The argos ones are 38cm Square X 90 cm high (excluding stand). They come with a water diverter each and all the fixings and the stands. As luck would have it, as soon as I finished setting them up, it started raining.

I bought exactly the same ones last year (at the same price so I guess yours were even more of a bargain given the VAT increase!)

Only problem I found with them is that the lids are a snap fit and you need a screwdriver to prise them off to see how much water is in them!

Not sure whether this is a good idea or merely an indication that I need to get out more ( ) but I'll share it with you anyway! 

The small ex tonic bottle was weighted with sand so that it floats more or less upright, the thick galvanised wire is glued through a hole in the bottle cap and then through a hole in the top of the butt lid. I also glued a plastic measuring cap over the hole to act as a guide for the wire which otherwise tends to wave around as the float moves around. The brown gunge is frame sealant (allowed to dry out thoroughly) to hopefully protect the glue from moisture so the whole lot doesn't fall apart!

A bright red biro cap was glued over the top end of the wire (eye protection!) and I've painted bands onto the wire to indicate empty/half full/full.

Working well so far; I need to know when the butts are getting low as I need a supply of rainwater to keep my blueberries happy - I'm also hoping that the bottles will reduce the pressure on the butt if we get another big freeze-up next winter.

[lfcevans]

Nice idea.

The lids on my water butts are round and are of the snap on variety, but come off or on very easily, so no need for a float. Your DIY one looks good tho 

heres mine, one nearest is 1/3 full......or 2/3 empty depending how you look at it 

[JayG]

Ah! Same price, same shop, same capacity, otherwise completely different altogether!