Grow Your Own Magazine

In an effort to stop using the hose on our two allotments and save some water I installed five 1000 litre IBC's on the two pots during late summer.

Two are situated outside the polytunnel and are filled using the hose but the other three are plumbed into the greenhouse guttering and shed guttering. The greenhouses have two linked together and the shed has one, that overflows into three 200 litre blue plastic barrels c/w taps.

So far so good, however its still mid January and all the containers are full. I could squeeze another 1000 litre IBC in by the greenhouses for my planned new shed to feed but all in all I have over 5600 litres (1250 gallons) of water in store already.

A pond is planned to take excess run-off when required but at the moment I am stuffed. How are you guys faring?

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Kindest regards, David.

http://pigletsplots.blogspot.com/
updated - Sunday 19th at 2100hrs

pigletwillie,
I installed 2 IBC's last year, stacked and am now looking to get a couple more.
Could I ask how you have linked them together as mine are independent. Also how are you getting water out as water from my lower one doesn't have quite enough pressure to use a hose effectively from it?
Thanks
Caroline

Caroline, one is set higher than the other and a pipe was fitted near the top to take excess water into the slightly lower one. The pipe is just pushed into a hole drilled into the side and sealed.

I dont use a hose, I have low pressure leaky pipe that is laid out into the polytunnel beds and the rest is taken off with watering cans.

__________________
Kindest regards, David.

http://pigletsplots.blogspot.com/
updated - Sunday 19th at 2100hrs

Hi
What's an IBC? Are they expensive and where do you get them?
Got the same problem, all the waterbutts full and overflowing
Sue

An independant bulk container is a 1000 litre square plastic container that is in a protective cage and sat on a pallet. They have a screw lid on the top and a tap at the bottom and are used by many industries. I get mine from work free.

You can buy them second hand for between £60-100 but many places give them away as they are non returnable in some instances.

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Kindest regards, David.

http://pigletsplots.blogspot.com/
updated - Sunday 19th at 2100hrs

My OH very kindly fitted guttering and downpipes to my shed and two water butts last weekend at the lottie. I checked one last night (ie it had been in place for 6 days only) - it was 2/3rd full already! Methinks we've had more than our fair share of rain over the past week! DDL

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Appreciate the little things in life because one day you will realise they are the big things

Pigletwillie
Thanks for the info, I'll have a search on the net.
best wishes
Sue

They are worth trying to get Sue, their capacity equates to about 4 Blue barrels, with a smaller footprint to boot.

__________________
Kindest regards, David.

http://pigletsplots.blogspot.com/
updated - Sunday 19th at 2100hrs

I'll have to borrow a trailer & come over to see you PW I could use a couple of those myself.

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ntg

Never be afraid to try something new.
Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark.
A large group of professionals built the Titanic

http://grief-encounters.blogspot.com/

I'm SO pleased with myself...today I linked my four blue butts up together; with hosepipe sections one to the other...they drain into each other so when I take from one it refills from the others. I worked it all out myself and everything (this is from one who has been known to hammer screws in).
I spent a happy ten minutes watching them drain into each other...now got to source some more for gratis

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~ What do I think of Western civilisation? I think it would be a very good idea ~ Gandhi

As things currently are on our allotment you are not allowed any sheds/greenhouses. I want to do all I can to harvest rainwater but surely there must be other ways if you have no guttering to connect to?

Just having butts dotted about is the obvious choice for many, but does anyone know of any other cheaper ways?

This is all theoretical as I haven't tried it but......... if you aren't allowed structures the only other part of the lottie which gets rained on, apart from soil areas, are the paths! If the paths can be linked to a storage device, quite a bit of water could be saved from the winter rains!

A sloping site would give natural water flow down the paths and all that would be needed is a colection device!

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My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

Interesting idea, only problem is, our "paths" are really only trodden down earth, no real paths to speak of.

Anyone used these before?: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/OIL-DRUM-BBQ-4...QQcmdZViewItem Looks cheap, and I'm sure it would work - just cut a hole in the top...

here's my butts, all linked up...lovely jubbly. Just for fun I fill up the 1st just to watch it magically drain off into the next, and the next...

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~ What do I think of Western civilisation? I think it would be a very good idea ~ Gandhi

And you say you suck that water to get it going!!! It's a wonder Johnty isn't spouting off about Archimedes by now!

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My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

No, Bob Flowerdew says sucking is for amateurs...grown ups fill the hose from the tap! Just look at that green water, yuk (I couldn't trust myself not to swallow...I ain't got a gag reflex )

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~ What do I think of Western civilisation? I think it would be a very good idea ~ Gandhi

I must have know a lot of amateurs in my youth

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ntg

Never be afraid to try something new.
Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark.
A large group of professionals built the Titanic

http://grief-encounters.blogspot.com/

Lol !!!!!!!!!

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~ What do I think of Western civilisation? I think it would be a very good idea ~ Gandhi

The only thing you suck up a tube to get the flow started is home-made wine.

I have the same problem on my new lottie Heywayne - let me know if you find any answers. As a stop gap until we build a shed, I have a couple of water butts and was going to put a piece of corrugated roofing linking the two so that any rainwater collecting on the roofing will hopefully flow into the barrels, but this will probably take ages to collect much. If anyone else has any ideas, they'd be very welcome here...

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All at once I hear your voice
And time just slips away
Bonnie Rait

Is there any way you could transport water from your house to your lottie?

I've got a 5 gallon plastic container from the local camping shop, fill it up with water then put it on my little suitcase trolley, put it in the car, and at the other end, wheel my little, well, big container to my water butt and then fill it up. (just call me "trolley dolly!!").

If you could rig up some sort of siphon thing (there is another thread about this) you could use your used bath water to fill your container and use that.

Do let me know how you get on.

Bernie aka Dexterdog

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Appreciate the little things in life because one day you will realise they are the big things

I found this brilliant idea on another allotment.