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550 million quid pre tax profit, you’re paying for it so I really really wouldn’t feel guilty.
Even if the reservoirs run dry they will still make money they are only in it for the profit.
If you can use water from sinks or from showers to flush the toilet or water the garden why not? Saves energy and preserves a vital resource.
Water butts for the garden are not a new thing but it seems there has been a short period where everyone seems to have gotten lazy.
Well, in relation to distance of shower from my water heater I’m lucky, as it’s only about 1.5 metres away. Mind you, in summer I often use my cold outside shower anyway (which this time of year isn’t that cold...)
As far as watering plants goes, we’re fortunate enough to have about 30,000 litres of rain water in our water storage cistern, so we use a submersible pump in that. It just gets replenished through the winter - it actually would hold about 45,000 litres filled to the top. It’s the size of a fair sized room.
This is quite a good idea actually, I shower twice a day so must get through a fair bit (1 at work though)
Mowgli; what do you use 2000 litres of water for?
Watering the garden, duh 😉 Got a lot of vegetables and a new hedge in this year, and it's not rained since about May as far as I can remember. Watering every other day getting through say 100l with the hose each time soon gets through 2000l. I must admit, when I installed the second one I thought 'right, we'll never run out of water now!' So the drought is probably partially my fault.
Hmm, I've got to re do all our exterior wastewater plumbing anyway as its all UV degraded, can't do anything about the shower and bath (which is a shame as they're pumped so probably use a lot of water!) Which leaves the kitchen skink and washing machine (dishwasher is plumbed in the same pipework but apparently that water isn't SK good for the soil).
Might have to go skip diving for an old cistern and something to pump it up and around the garden.
It rained for about six months. Where did it all go?
Depends where you live, lots of areas run off via concrete to drains to rivers/sea the rain needs to collect and sink in,not run off
So i started a similar thread..but can nyone recommend a decent water butt pump??
Are they all submersible, or does anyone do a good in-line one??
Cheers
DrP
tbh while its nice to have i dont see the cost advantage of installing pumps and gray water collection when water is so cheap and plentiful in the uk.
unless your a large user.
i dont see the cost advantage of installing pumps and gray water collection when water is so cheap and plentiful in the uk.
It's more than just cost, its also about the environmental cost.water in the UK is abundant in some areas and not in others, the signs have been there certainly in the south and its only going to get worse
^^
Though I agree that you'd probably have to fill/empty a water butt many many times over, to even recoup the cost of the butt, I think there's something 'nice and wholesome' about catching rain/grey water, and using it..
I really wish I'd fitted a simple grey/rain water system purely for flushing my loos. I hate the fact I fush my poop away with drinking water...
DrP
Are they all submersible, or does anyone do a good in-line one??
Hoselock do a proper 3bar (mains pressure) pump but its about £150, or you could use something like a secondhand shower pump off eBay.
I was thinking of just setting up a cistern with a small cheap pump, just enough to send it to the top of the garden and let it soak away into the beds. I suppose the problem with that is all the waste in the water will end up in the same place rather than being spread around and broken down in the soil.
Apparently you can't keep grey water >24h or it goes bad, so it shouldn't just go into another water butt unless you use it that evening.
I think I might be better off just getting some IBC's at the top of the garden and pumping rainwater from the butts at the house up to them. A winter would certainly fill them and they should do for an average summer.
i dont see the cost advantage of installing pumps and gray water collection when water is so cheap and plentiful in the uk.
Its about £2.20/m3 in our area (Thames water) including waste water charges.
So its entirely possible to go crazy and never stand a chance of recouping the cost. But we got our butts off freecycle and the pump was only £20 so its probably just about profitable.
The bigger the garden the more it will save you, if its big enough to warrant ibc's of water storage its gets much cheaper as they're often given away once they're no longer considered food safe.
There's also the nice fuzzy feeling of doing something right, its like commuting to work, it mighty save money, if i wasn't doing it on a road bike with dura ace!
Apparently you can’t keep grey water >24h or it goes bad, so it shouldn’t just go into another water butt unless you use it that evening.
Says who, and what do you mean by 'bad', given that it's going into the ground, and not going to be drunk? (Genuine question)
It rained for about six months. Where did it all go?
Still in the ground here. There's a place on the lane near me where the water seeps out of the bank from some fields - it's not a low lying area really, on the side of a small rise in the ground. It used to appear in wet weather, then it became a permanent strong feature this last winter. It's still pouring out of the ground just as strongly now.
I dug down beneath one of our previous muddy patches just to see - two inches down the dirt is still damp.
It rained for about six months. Where did it all go?
Google the water cycle.
We've had the driest summer so far since 1976 and we're only just talking about drought restrictions in a few parts of the country. The only surprising thing is that it's taken this long.
Also look at how much land that would absorb water in 76 is now covered in concrete with water running into drains not the land, our flooding issues mean we are better at getting rid of water now too. I've not seen a reservoir looking overly full for a while it's more like Aussie spring levels. August could be a shock if they have been avoiding telling people how bad it is....
Apparently you can’t keep grey water >24h or it goes bad, so it shouldn’t just go into another water butt unless you use it that evening.
Says who, and what do you mean by ‘bad’, given that it’s going into the ground, and not going to be drunk? (Genuine question)
According to CAT and various other sources the bacteria start to make it go stinky after about 24 hours..
@mowgli - how did you get the IBCs delivered (won't fit in an Audi)? I presume they're light enough to lift by hand when empty.
Yeah, got them delivered by a local chap. They were cheap, about £20 I think each, but I had to wash them out. They'd had water-based paint in, so it did wash out ok.
I just hooked up our shower outlet to a water butt. Was surprised how little it collected - about 1 watering can full for a quick shower. Cost £2.90 for a new piece of waste pipe so probably worthwhile.