News / water butts

Raw sewage is pouring into our rivers and coastal waters regularly, all across the country. The government got a lot of backlash this week when it voted down an amendment to the Environment Bill, that would have demanded water companies stop releasing sewage into our waters on a regular basis.

I've learnt quite a bit this week about the issue, and one thing stands out is that a major reason for the sewage releases is that the pipes can't cope after heavy rain, so the sewage is released into rivers, otherwise it would start flooding out onto residential streets from manholes. This is because the rainwater shares the same pipes as the sewage. I have made another post a month or so ago about how water butts can help prevent flash floods, and clearly they are a solution in reducing the chance of sewage spills. This is because, using my original example, of a 10,000 homes, if each are fitted with a 200 litre double water butt kit (the bestseller), then that would hold 2 Olympic swimming pools worth of water, after heavy rain. This means that all that rainwater is not going straight into the sewers, so it reduces the chance they will fill so quick, resulting in a raw sewage release into the rivers and coastal seas. 

I have not heard anyone mention this as a quick and easy solution to help the problem. Considering raw sewage is not just poop and wee, but anything that goes down the drains, including bleach, household cleaners, hair dye, medicines etc, it's a massive issue. Only 14% of English rivers are classed as being in a good ecological standard, according to the Ennvironment Agency in 2020. Yet another good reason to buy a water butt!

Unfortunately the price of water butts and composters will be going up in price this weekend. For the last few years the price has remained the same, but now the manufacturer has increased prices due to the cost of plastic rising, and also the delivery companies that deliver these products have recently increased their prices.

So, if you are looking at the water butts now, and think you will wait a few days, please consider ordering now so you can buy at the current price.

The following sized water butts are currently available;

168 litre water butt

227 litre water butt

Save money if you have a water meter. Every time you fill a watering can from your water butt instead of from a mains tap, it means your water meter bill doesn't increase.
Easy access. Having a water butt in your garden means you can very quickly fill a watering can and water your plants. It's a lot faster, than having to go into a kitchen or utility room, which might mean having to carry the heavy watering can down steps.
Great quality water for garden plants. Unlike tap water, rainwater does not contain chlorine. It is also ideal pH, and lacks “hard” water minerals, additives, and conditioners, and has the presence of beneficial nutrients. It is a soft water, and is usually a warmer temperature, than water from the cold tap. Rainwater is perfect for plants.
Help the environment. The water butt is made from recycled plastic from household waste, old car bumpers etc. Creating useful products from waste plastic reduces the amount sent to landfill. If a lot of houses in an area have rainwater butts, it can help reduce flash flooding after a heavy storm, by lowering the volume of water flowing fast down drainpipes into gutters.
Made in Britain. British made, you will be supporting UK manufacturing jobs.

The last blog post was about how reservoirs were low and rainfall was low in May. Well, this is Britain afterall, so it's no surprise to say its been torrential rain the last few days in June. This of course means anyone with a water butt, will have plenty saved in their barrels, from the downpours. I had to check to see when the heatwave began last year, and it was later than I thought. According to the wiki page about the 2018 heatwave, it began on the 22nd June. So, all is not lost yet for a hot, sunny summer, but I wouldn't bet on it, could just as easily be a soggy mess, like previous years. One things for certain though, having a water butt installed will ensure you have some free rainwater to use if there is dry periods, and the clever thing with the water butts is that with the diverter kits they don't overflow. Once the water butts are full the water then just continues down the drainpipe into the drain.

All sizes of water butt for sale can be found here -

https://gardenis.co.uk/collections/grow-your-own