Kind of similar to this thread, in a way… but i don’t want to water plants with shower water :-/

Basically I want to salvage all rain water falling on my roof via water butts…

I then want to use a pump of sorts to rig it to a water sprinkler/hose etc.

Screfix/toolstation do loads of ‘dirty water pump’ things:

https://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-ttb582pmp-750w-dirty-water-pump-220-240v/55753

etc

Is this my only option? Is there an ‘inline pump’ that I connect to the water butt tap, rather than having to submerge the pump??

I’m not overly bothered, but if i can jsut ‘click’ it into the tap on the butt, that would beeasier than popping the lid off etc.

Also, will it ‘equal’ mains pressure water –  i.e will is drive a sprinkler??

Cheers

DrP

If you’re just looking to water beds could you connect it to a soaker hose buried in the beds?

Oh this was handy, I was about to ask the same thing but for a different reason: our bathroom is at the same level as the garden and just one wall away, I was wondering if I could build a hose/pump thing that I could throw in the bath once the kids have had their wash and connect a sprinkler to the other end.  I was hoping one of those eBay pumps would be sufficient though, 60 quid is a bit spendy.

Adding a pump really negates the environmental benefits. I’d look for non pumped solutions first.

Adding a pump really negates the environmental benefits. I’d look for non pumped solutions first

Same goes for the financial benefit too. A cubic meter of water costs pence, even the cost of a plastic water butt, if you have to buy it, takes years to pay back. Unless they are hugely subsidised or you can get a free chemical drum not really worth the outlay.

Adding a pump really negates the environmental benefits.

Well, not really…. does it!

I want to salvalge rain water to water my grass with. This requires a pump.

Yes, the pump requires electricity, but where do you stop? Only watering the garden in pure hemp clothes… Having a water butt made of coconut husks, as plastic is evil…??!!

Anyway….

I think i’ll go for the Screwfix Titan pump (£40) as it gets good reviews, and I’ll be able to rig it up to the sprinkler through some modifications!
Also… it’ll be great for emptying the hot-tub with (again, to water the grass….)
Winner…

DrP

We looked at big undergound tanks to store our springwater.  Would have been about £1000 for 1,500L, including a pump that would be reliable enough to leave down there permanently.  Then looked at cost of water out of the tap:  £2/1,000L.  Hell of a payback period!  Just drained it straight to the stream instead.

Bought that titan pump to keep the area dewatered while we were digging.   Works well, unless the water’s really dirty (like gravel and silt)  Shifts a lot of water quickly, don’t know if it’d be right for watering the lawn.  I was using a 40mm pipe though.

Also got a 500l water butt, because one of the soakaways is clogged and I don’t know where it is.  £50 next day delivery was an easy/quick solution.

And we’ve got a drill pump (look up “drill pump” for further info – might be what you’re after) but not used it – inherited from previous owners)  You could build a bike rig for it and drive it off the back wheel.  One in the eye for the enviroMentalists above.

 You could build a bike rig for it and drive it off the back wheel.

I actually had a think about this a few years ago.. I had a turbo, and the pump, and had bult the rig. I jsut didn’t have a welder to connect a cog to the pump…

Then I got rid of the turbo, and that’s that…!! I still like the idea though!

DrP

I want to salvalge rain water to water my grass with. This requires a pump.

Not necessarily. There are ways of doing it without a pump

Yes, the pump requires electricity, but where do you stop?

A good place to stop is where the environmental costs outway the benefits. Always good to do a reality check on these projects and think through a few alternatives

Have a look at cheap portable jetwashes on ebay. You could use as is or bodge onto the outlet with a few extra fittings. I’ve used one for automated greenhouse irrigation.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Portable-12V-Car-High-Pressure-Washer-Water-Pump-Kit-Jet-Wash-Cleaner-Hose-Van-h/302809292571

You need a 12v supply. So either a battery or look at 12v supplies for pond pumps.

Another option is a bilge pump and another tank that has enough head to allow gravity to feed the hose. I have a setup like this for another part of the greenhouse.

Also got a 500l water butt,

I like this. I cannot lie. 😉

A good place to stop is where the environmental costs outway the benefits. Always good to do a reality check on these projects and think through a few alternatives

Other benefits:

*Spending time in the garden (good for mental health)

*A bit of problem solving / engineering / man project time (shown to reduce dementia risk)

*Warm fuzzy feeling of doing something good

*Part of a way of life, if your thinking about water conservation your going to contemplate other aspects of your environmental impact.

*etc

Its like trying. And generally failing. To grow my own veg when a bag of carrots is 19p in tesco, and a 20kg sack of potatoes is cheaper than a bag of seed potatoes.

How about giving head, get the butt elevated this will give head and increased pressure not massive but may do the job?

Oh dear i may have excited myself.

So I should give head whilst my butt is as high in the air as possible…??

Right?

DrP

Edit – TINAS has it…
In a similar vain, I spent the whole of yesterday laying laminate flooring in our new kitchen. I could have gone to work, earned some ££££ and paid a floor fitter £, and still had £££ left over.
However, sometimes, it’s fun to have a project. In the end, rich or poor, we all die at some point! May as well have had a bit of fun!

Have a look at cheap portable jetwashes on ebay

DrP already has a portable jet washer Worx hydroshot thingy . All he needs is a longer hose.

Problem solved

I have a draper water butt pump that works reasonably well. Not had much use this year as the water butts have been empty for weeks but wanted to use the rainwater from the shed/workshop for watering the plants. Pressure is decent, better than the pressure from our hose which needs to be 30m long to reach the same area.

Without knowing how much energy it takes to treat water it’s hard to conclude that it’s not the environmentally friendly option. It’s certainly cheaper for us than using tap water and lots of plants do better with rain water than treated water so worthwhile.400 litres (combined capacity of my water butts) would cost about £1.50 if was running the hose. I could run the water pump for 10 minutes to deliver the same quantity. At 350W and a kwh of electricity costing about 13p it’s significantly cheaper to use the rainwater.

What about a soakaway direct from drain.  On investigation we have one, all the plants on 1 side are on steroids.  Brilliant bit of engineering…maybe it was not planned but I would try to replicate it if possible.

However, sometimes, it’s fun to have a project. In the end, rich or poor, we all die at some point! May as well have had a bit of fun!

Fair point, well made.

Have a look at cheap portable jetwashes on ebay

Those are designed to deliver high pressure, not big volume so not really the right thing.

DrP, that titan pump might not work. It’s properly powerful and might not work well with a normal garden hose

I use one to pump water from the bottom of my garden when it floods in heavy rain (so not at the moment…). It’ll pump water through a 1 inch diameter hose with a surprisingly good flow rate, don’t know how it will cope with a smaller hose – it’ll either come through like a pressure washer or cause the pump too much stress.

Ben – i was JUST thinking that….

On further looking, I think i do actually need a water-butt ‘watering pump’ – there are a few out there (aldi do one) that seem to be more suited with hose connectors etc etc….

DrP

There’s a solar-powered pump designed to work with a water butt for greenhouses which may be relevant.

There must be some form of human powered one that you can get the kids to pump to earn their pocket money?

The elbow outlet connection that comes with the Titan steps down quite a bit out off the box (you then hack it off to match the bigness of your pipe)

Our mains pressure is 6 bar, I doubt the Titan would get up to that with a standard hose, I think you’d just get less coming out. I’d try mine for you if I had the right connections.