Are all water butts created equally?

[RooKangaroo]

Hi, looking to get a water butt.

Can anyone recommend a good one or good make?

Or are they all pretty much of muchness and I just need to go to B&Q and grab one?

I honestly think they are the work of the devil. I have 3. . The lids get lost, the connecting pipes fall off, there is never more than half an inch of stinking water in the bottom, which is plenty for mosquitos to lay eggs in. If I ever did it agai, I would get the massively expensive square ones that fit onto house drain pipes. If you live anywhere near the East Midlands you can come and get mine and welcome!

3dogs & don’t forget if the darn things ever do fill up to the top they will promptly fall over!

Well I never got close to that. I’m going to use one to make comfrey tea and the others I may drill full of holes and use for potatoes. Maybe it’s just me, but I have really tried.if any one knows how to make it work, I’m all ears

Oh no! Definitely not what I was expecting to hear.

Thanks for the response, really appreciate it. Will do some more research about this before taking the plunge, I think!

I've not had any problems with my water butts. I used to live in an area supplied by Severn Trent, who sometimes have special offers for their customers. (I believe some other water companies do this too.) I got the 190l water butt kit pictured [https://www.savewatersavemoney.co.uk here] (i.e. together with a stand) for £20 plus £5 postage.

It wasn't too difficult to assemble and I didn't have any problems with it overflowing etc. I had it for about a year before we moved.

Our current water company doesn't do any special offers but I got an unused water butt through Freecycle. It looks the same type as I had before and again no problems. We've been here for a year too now.

sorry couldn't get clicks link to work!

*clicky

I bought two and salvaged 1 from my overgrown garden when we bought the house.

I think they are much of a muchness.

Mine have never lost their lid not toppled over. I have one connected to the greenhouse for easy access greenhouse watering. The other two are on downpipes on the house.

Don't forget the stand thingy to put it on so you can use the tap.

I put two hooks in the wall either side and used some paracord linked between the two to hold it in place.

I love mine. It's attached the the greenhouse roof gutter so I usually have a handy water source. I'd like more!

Mine is fine and has lasted at least 7 years but possibly longer because it came with the house (rented). It looks like one of those standard types you get from Wilco's on a stand. I need a bigger one really with all my pots I need to keep up with watering in the summer but the garden is so small I don't want it to be taken up by a tank.

Mine has never fallen over touch wood! It collects from the shed roof and is tucked out of sight on a stand.
I'm a fan of the slimline 100L ones as they take up so little space. I'm tempted to link another one behind the shed for the overflow to go into. I use them for flowerbed watering and topping up the wildlife pond. I bought mine at Aldi, I noticed them for

I got mine from the local water board, or what ever they are called. No problems at all.

This 100L one has free delivery if you spend over £20. They have the 210L too but only instore (god knows where, they're huge):

here

We got one two years ago fro Aldi. It hasn't been a problem and has worked perfectly fine. I hadn't realised I be been taking it for granted.

Our local Aldi has them for £18.99 at moment (including stand and bits to attach to drainpipe)

I got mine for £15 from United Utilities - promotion on, free delivery. It's working fine.

You are all brilliant, thank you so much for your advice and sharing your experiences.

The Aldi one looks like a good offer - going to explore that!

What ever you do dont buy a wooden oak barrel type - they look lovely but are useless. You have to keep them filled up with water otherwise the planks dry out and split / leak so when i really needed to use them 2 summers ago i couldnt use much of the water as they would have dried out!