IBC water containers ???

i have checked it originally had fruit juice

 

husband in now thinking if i am having one may as well have TWO
i dont think he realised how small our garden is and how big they are .... could always pop one into my daughters garden :WINK1:
i could stack one on top of other ?

 

I wouldn't do that. The metal frames they come in aren't that strong, and the container itself is just thick polythene. 1000 litres of water = 1 metric tonne, the weight of a small car, and a lot more weight than I'd be happy to have balanced at head height in the garden.

Why not build some wooden shelves around it, and fill said shelves with plants in pots. And maybe stack some containers on top of the water tank, so that you're not actually losing any growing space?

 

Too be honest i would only have one as i feel me garden is too small to warrant two of thse

i will only be able to use the top and one side, as the safest location in my garden to site this will be by the back door
one side will be against a wall
one side will be on the walk way
one side i will access to for a window to open and for the tap:D
so i will just have pots along the edge and may be a climber trained over it
but i do intend to encase the IBC firstly because it is ugly and and secondly to help with weather extremes heat/frost

 

it has been used for OJuice no chemicals

plan on insulating it and cladding to protect from weather

 

"The metal frames they come in aren't that strong"

They are designed to stack, aren't they? (They are for pallet forklifts ... or are they only "stacked" using racking?)

"the sun light, after a long time they will break"

I have seen some people paint the outside black (which probably helps with Algae too)

"husband in now thinking if i am having one may as well have TWO"

I definitely think worth having as many as you can fit in, depending on cost of course. You might find that the delivery cost is the same for 1 or several ...

Other thing to consider is the size of the roof that you will collect from. The bigger it is the more easily/frequently you will be able to fill it in the Summer, and also how long the Winter's water will "last" during the Summer.

I don't know where abouts in the country you are C.K. (pop that in the "Location" on your Profile? That would help folk giving advice ...)

Lets assume you are in Bedford (I picked that as somewhere in the middle of the country)

Monthly average rainfall for Bedford is

Jan 48.4
Feb 36.6
Mar 43.5
Apr 47.2
May 45.3
Jun 56.9
Jul 44.7
Aug 48.6
Sep 53.6
Oct 56.8
Nov 49.0
Dec 53.8
Year 584.4

You can find yours at: Met Office: 1971–2000 averages

You won't water from 01-Nov to 31-Mar (and probably not in October either, not April - but you might ...) so rainfall in that period is 231.3mm and if you can collect Oct + April then 335.3mm

Beyond that you would expect 49.82mm per month, average, from May to September inc.

NOTE: You can type a formula, with whatever units you want to use, into Google and it will do the maths with you. Just end the "formula" with an "=" so Google knows its a calculation, and not a search. Also use "*" for multiple and not "x" like you did at school!

So you can calculate your shed's roof area something like:

10 feet * 12 feet in square metres =

will give you

= 11.14... square metres

The following use the same syntax, so you should be able to just pop your figures in

So I calculate:

If your roof is 10 sq.m. then you will collect (Nov-Mar)

10 square metres * 231.3 millimetres in litres = 2313 litres

or Oct-Apr

10 square metres * 335.3 millimetres in litres = 3353 litres

so that would fill between 2 and 3 IBCs (an IBC is roughly 1 cubic metre, or 1,000 litres)

And the average monthly rain May-Sep would give you, per month,

10 square metres * 49.82 millimetres in litres = 498.2 litres

which is half an IBC "refill".

If your roof is 20 sq.m. then double it, and if 5 sq.m. then halve it!

How much water do you use? I reckon I use about 6 - 8 watering cans when I water the veg patch, and I do that about twice a week in dry weather. My watering cans are about 2.5 gallons:

2.5 imperial gallons in litres = 11.4 litres

so each watering session is

8 * 11.4 litres = 91.2 litres

Lets call that 100 litres, and I do that twice a week for a month (lets call that 4 weeks)

(In reality I would not do that twice a week, every week, from May - Sep, but if I assume that I would then I will have more water than I need.)

So ... watering 2 times a week for 4 weeks in a month and using 8 Watering cans each time:

2 * 4 * 100 litres = 800 litres

so I'm going to use 800 litres a month, and my monthly, sporadic!, rainfall (calculated above) is 500 litres per month.

So my nett use is about

800 litres - 500 litres = 300 litres

per month from May to September [5 months], or in a bad/dry year from April to October [7 months]

300 litres * 5 in litres = 1500 litres
300 litres * 7 in litres = 2100 litres

so I would need between 1.5 and 2 IBC's (based on a 10 sq.m. roof)

 

I think stacking them when empty as a means of storing them/moving them is fine. I wouldn't stack them and then fill them up though. Assuming they're all roughly the same as the ones my dad has, the metal framework is made such that it reminds me of an old fashioned car roof rack.

If I saw two of them stacked, both full, I'd be worried that it would only need one side to start to bend slightly under the weight, and then it would just go over completely as once it starts to tilt, all the weight would shift to the already failing side. I'd hate to be stood next to it when it went.

 

i was thinking the same thing
i could have a second one but the garden is really not big and i am trying to gain space not lose more i would still be able to use my smaller butts as they can be positioned in between beds and between those i would have another 500 ltr

 

oh bless you John thanks for measuring them

filling them would not be a problem i have a choice of 3 down pipes 2 off the house roof and 1 off the garage

the garage is so big that a good down pour in a hour can fill 7 butts to overflowing :yess:

i plant to insulate mine to try to lenghten the life span

 

My dad has two on his allotment. They are his only source of water there. He always manages to fill his whole plot with all manner of veg, plus he has some chickens and geese that need a regular drink, and he has a large greenhouse down there. Two of those big tanks sort out all his water requirements for his allotment. An allotment is roughly 1/8 of an acre, and up in the north east we don't actually get that much rain compared to some parts of the country, so maybe that'll give you some idea as to how many you need based on the size of your garden and your local rainfall stats.

 

My job on Monday then
There is a confectionery manufacturer in the industrial estate, I noticed outside stacked alongside the refuse bins are four IBC containers and about 40 blue plastic 20gallon buckets

I wonder if they have a returnable deposit, or if they are waiting for the council to uplift
My job Monday is to go and ask,, If you do not ask you do not know

Jack McH

 

And if they are paying to have them taken away offer to sell them on eBay for them, on an ongoing basis, and split the difference with them :thumb:

 

oh jack i will be well jealous if you get some before me !!!