Preparing for a possible drought...
The local water board's reported that water levels were very low this year compared to subsequent years. I'd recommend taking steps now if you are at all concerned about whether you'll have enough to water your plants over the summer.
Hose pipe bans are already in place in some areas.
I re-routed the front drain to the back garden to collect more water into water butts and then connected the butts to each other to store more water using an overflow system.
I compared the 200 litre water butts from Wickes and Wilkos. The butts cost £24 from Wilkos and Wickes charged the same through their price match policy and reduced the price by another 10%.
Wickes 200 litre water butt
Pros: Holes already present for connecting to other waterbutts. The apertures being perfect for the range of connectors available from B&Q. There are extra vents on the lids to collect more water and a handy outline to connect up to a down pipe from your roof drain.
Cons: The taps can leak a little at first. Take care as to how much you tighten them. It would have been a perfect design had the area for securing the tap inside the butt been a straight surface instead of a curved lump.
Wilkos 200 litre water butt
Pros: Nice tight fit on the taps - no drips. Extra vents on the lids allow more water to be collected when raining.
Cons: You have to drill your own holes and the lids are more work re cutting a suitable hole for a down pipe. This isn't a problem if it's the last butt in a chain collecting water via an overflow.
The water butt stands were cheaper at Wickes - £11.99 compared to Wilkos at £13.99.
A further overflow was setup to push excess water out to trees beyond the garden and to the water feature.
Hose pipe bans are already in place in some areas.
I re-routed the front drain to the back garden to collect more water into water butts and then connected the butts to each other to store more water using an overflow system.
I compared the 200 litre water butts from Wickes and Wilkos. The butts cost £24 from Wilkos and Wickes charged the same through their price match policy and reduced the price by another 10%.
Wickes 200 litre water butt
Pros: Holes already present for connecting to other waterbutts. The apertures being perfect for the range of connectors available from B&Q. There are extra vents on the lids to collect more water and a handy outline to connect up to a down pipe from your roof drain.
Cons: The taps can leak a little at first. Take care as to how much you tighten them. It would have been a perfect design had the area for securing the tap inside the butt been a straight surface instead of a curved lump.
Wilkos 200 litre water butt
Pros: Nice tight fit on the taps - no drips. Extra vents on the lids allow more water to be collected when raining.
Cons: You have to drill your own holes and the lids are more work re cutting a suitable hole for a down pipe. This isn't a problem if it's the last butt in a chain collecting water via an overflow.
The water butt stands were cheaper at Wickes - £11.99 compared to Wilkos at £13.99.
A further overflow was setup to push excess water out to trees beyond the garden and to the water feature.
