Water Butt Advice

Hi,

Moved into a new house which came with a water butt, pics attached.

It looks like one of the drain pipes from the house is going into the side of the water butt.

From looking in on top of the water butt, it looks like there is algae hovering around the top on the outside. I guess I have a few questions as a novice.

1) Should we look to remove the algae on the top of the water butt, if yes, what is the best approach?
2) On the rare occasion we have had a few days of dry weather in the last 8 weeks since we moved in, we have used an outside tap with a hose connected to water the grass. My question is, should we be using the water from the water butt to water the grass? I presume we can hook the hose up to the water butt.
3) Is there anything else we can do with the water butt, as in, grow some sort of plant or herb in the top of the water butt?

Thank you

 

Hi there . Dont worry about algae, it does no harm. Look at purchasing a submersible pump, to push the water from the butt into the hosepipe. Last bit, how about a decorative wrap, similar to the ones you can get for wheelie bins.

 

You could water the grass with the water in the butt, but I doubt it would go far, depending on how much grass you have.
I mostly use my butts for watering plants in containers.

It is really only used as a way of saving tap water.

 

Thank you, good idea re: a decorative wrap to add a bit of colour.

Regarding the algae, I went down a rabbit hole on the web and came across all sorts of suggestions.
I presume where the algae is sitting in the pic is actually on the lid which prevents it sinking into the butt itself?

Purely from a financial pov, rather than buy a submersible pump, could I not hook up my existing hose pipe to the tap which is on the water butt?

 

Not sure where the algae is, but if it has a lid its more likely to just be some sediment that has come off the roof, if you keep it dark algae cannot grow, these things are not sterile and don't need to be for the use they are intended.

Yes just put your hose on the tap at the bottom.

 

Yes you could, but the pressure will drop as the butt empties and it won't push the water up hill above the level in the butt.
I'm thinking of getting a solar powered pump to but between the tap on the butt and the hosepipe to keep the pressure up as the butt empties.
I really wouldn't bother watering an established lawn it will green up fast enough when it rains. I'd save the water butt for watering containers and newly planted plants. A butt that size doesn't go very far in a dry period.
Make sure you keep the lid in place to keep the light out.

 

Water pressure is less than half a pound pressure for each foot head. So it looks like the max pressure you would get would be about 2.5 psi. Mains pressure is anywhere from 30 - 80 psi. If the end of the hose was at waist height you would get virtually nothing out of the hose. You need either a pump or a watering can.

 

When I have more water in the butts than I need, three connected by siphons, and the pond needs topping up, I often set up another siphon from the butts to the pond.

Its just a case of letting it come out under its own pressure, I dont stand there holding it, obviously, but you can get water out if only slowly, often a better way of doing it rather than a high pressure spray.

 

I often wonder if plants don't like the chlorine in tap water. I read that in small amounts chlorine is a nutrient for plants, but in larger amounts is harmful.

I notice that after heavy rain all my plants look like they have grown a lot overnight. As if there is something in rainwater that they need, that isn't in tap water.

I still haven't managed to get a water butt and just don't have the expertise to install one. Definitely on my long term wish list, one day.

 

I tend to think that that way plants look after rain compared to after watering with tap water is more about the atmosphere after rain, the humidity rises generally and suddenly the plants are under no stress what so ever, but if you water with tap water the atmosphere remains pretty much the same, you have just applied water which will only have a short term effect.

 

needs a cover ,,, very dangerous ... even if only chicken wire