This is a do it yourself way of collecting rainwater to store and use it for things like washing, gardening and in some cases drinking.A good water butt needs to be fed from a downpipe off the gutter. Tools:Tape measure, a hole cutter and an electric drill.Fitting:Cut the pipe and then run it into the top of the water butt itself which can be done with the aid of a rain diverter piece. This is normally included in the kit for the butt. Move the overflow pipe from the top of the butt and connect to the base of the downpipe. Note: Sometimes the overflow is not required if you use a diverter that is lower down than the top of the butt. It stops filling when it is full. Nearly all butts come with some guidance instructions and all the kit that you require. Charlton Plumbers can fit butts. No standard shape or size of downpipe is available so the kit provided may not fit. Most plumbers merchants will stock a great choice of pipes, so you could take off an existing connector (mainly push fit) to take with you or measure the external diameter and locate one. The square shaped pipework is easy to measure, however for the round type you need calipers or string and a ruler. How to Measure:Place the string around the pipe and mark the point where the two ends meet up. Measure and note this distance. Divide this measurement by 3.14 (PI or mathematical constant). The resultant number is the external diameter of the pipe. A Charlton Plumber can make this calculation. You need to ensure that the inlet and overflow pipes are roughly the same size. If not the butt may overflow if it rains hard. Most kits can sort this by supplying an inlet that will only collect a small amount of water.
Water Butts