Rain water butts

[filsgreen]

Should I install another water butt off the same down spout? I have a 50 gallon butt already, which fills up quickly in the north west, would that be enough for two people? Also, how long does tap water last in clear plastic barrels?

Thanks for any advice.

Phil

[grenfell]

Never hurts to add more water storage and perfectly possible to come off the same down spout. You may even consider connecting the two butts together , either at the top so one fills when the other overflows , or at the bottom so they both fill at the same time.
The lifespan of water in clear barrels? Depends if you stand them in the sun or cover them up to be quite honest.

[featherstick]

The international SPHERE standards used in humanitarian relief efforts recommend 2-3 litres per person per day for cooking and drinking, and 15 litres per day for overall needs. You have 225 litres which gives you enough for a week for two people at those levels. If you can install more water butts, you should. If you can join three up, then join the one nearest the downpipe and the next one at the top, and then the subsequent ones at the bottom. This way anything that gets flushed in will sink to the bottom of butt no. 1, and you can draw cleaner water from butts nos. 2 and 3 from one tap. It might be worth considering food-grade barrels too, there are plenty available.

A 1000 litre food grade ICB would be a good investment and is on my list of things to do.

[filsgreen]

Thanks for your advice guys.

[Tricky]

That's great info featherstick. Thanks.
I thought I had plenty with two linked 220 litre butts but maybe not enough for my liking. With three people in the house that only gives me a ten day supply. I'm in the North-West like filsgreen and I can vouch the high speed of refill and that's just off one downspout. They frequently overflow and the footprint of my house isn't large.
I have another 1000 litre tank that I have stored so I'll press that into service, possibly with a solar panel pump.

[Covert]

Can anyone shed any light on water filtration for rainwater? Ie making it safe enough to drink

[Deeps]

Can anyone shed any light on water filtration for rainwater? Ie making it safe enough to drink

Treat it like any other water, boil it or filter it or chlorinate it. Rain water collection in our country should be relatively easy depending on the time of year, so in theory we should all have plenty......in theory.

[Yorkshire Andy]

http://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Water-Bu ... Type%7D%7C

these are great if you install them properly the top of the take off pipe should be level with the max full level you want for your barrel once full rest of the water gets dumped down the drain without overflowing...



#you can also get interconnecting kits for multiple butts

http://www.waterirrigation.co.uk/water- ... 0wodBH0Eow



as for filtration

start with straining the lumps out of it

then something like a sawyer mini for drinking



or in real shtf diy style

http://www.theprepperjournal.com/2013/0 ... -a-barrel/


then boil it

[whenfires]

I am looking at adding some guttering and a water butt to my shed. The standard 150mm guttering seems overkill so I was looking at the 76mm instead with 50mm downpipe in place of the standard 68mm.

The shed is a 14' x 10' with lean-to roof so it's not huge. Anyone see a problem with using the mini-guttering?

[dazthechippy]

i did exacatly that on my old shed before we moved, it was a little smaller than yours but my butts were filling up efficiently, dont remember it overflowing.

on the basis that'd be better then nothing then i'd say do it.