I want a water butt but have no drainpipe to connect to....

[Hillbilly]

....does this mean I would just have to collect the rainwater that fell directly in it?

Could I erect my own gutter along the top of my fence and then feed it into a water butt?

I don't see why not. Go to local builders merchants for plastic drainpipe and the connector thingies. Very easy to put together

you need a large catchment area for the rain or you will get very little water in your butt

im not sure a gutter along a fence would collect much water, you really need a gutter underneath something (like a roof) that the rain runs down.

what are you going to use the water in the water butt for?

Have you got a shed?

How come no downpipes fron gutters?

I have an upstairs bathroom and theres a catch all from the sink/bath my xp drilled a hole in it and attached a hose pipe somehow to it and so i reuse the bath water/sink water.
About 1/8th of a bath each time goes in the butt.

Same problem here. Garden is up high - level with roof tops. So can't divert anything from house..unless we fit min-guttering to the chimney .

guttering along fence? Sorry if this has ben suggested already...lots of buckets in middle of garden when it rains

guttering along fence? Sorry if this has ben suggested already...lots of buckets in middle of garden when it rains

Hi sorry everyone, I have not checked this thread for a few days.

The water butt would be to provide water for my garden as I have no tap there and no water at all on that side of the building, (I live in a 4 storey block of flats). Currently I have to fill a watering can from the kitchen which is such a pain as it takes about 12 trips to water the garden completely!

I don't have a garden shed.

where on the flats are you? im thinking wallace and gromit type drain extention lol....
failing that, trays/buckets for when it rains...can you hang out of window and water aything directly? Put a water butt in the garden and it will get the rain....

hosepipe from the tap out into the garden? not so eco i know but would save the trips back and forth...

charliecat we are ground floor.

mankymummy I do sometimes use a hose from our bathroom but it's actually as much faff as doing it by watering can.

Anyway thanks everybody.

So could you have a water butt outside your bathroom window? Thinking syphonning the bath water into it via the window?

This may seem daft but you could use the hose from the bathroom to fill the water butt up, and then you have a nice full waterbutt to use to water the garden. Even with hosepipe bans you are allowed to use it to fill the butt up. As we have a tap on the front of the house, and the veggie patch at the way bottom of the back garden, we use a water butt positioned next to the veggies. It gets filled maybe twice a summer (using 2 hoses!) Lot easier to use.

charliecat - nice idea but the bathroom backs onto the communal courtyard which is the opposite side to my garden in fact a 5 minute walk from outside bathroom to garden!!!

biscuits - this may well be the best idea, and then maybe I will erect a guttering too, even though it won't catch much rainwater it might get some to keep it topped up.

Apologies for bumping an old thread but just wanted to add that lots of people on our allotment have water butts that aren't attached to a drainpipe. They fill up in no time if you get plenty of rain, eg the North of England.