Water butt - those 200L ex-commercial barrels question

[Harry Bloomfield]

These..

How do you fit a tap in them? The lids are sealed in place, just two bungs in the lid, to fill and empty, and they are 37" tall, too much of a reach through a bung hole, to put the seal and nut on the back of a tap.


One idea, which might work, is to fit the tap near close to the bung holes at the top, refit the bungs so the bottom is sealed, then use the barrel upside down. Not got one yet, but would that work?

Our present barrel, a proper garden centre bought, though very thin walled, has split, and leaks - I suspect commercial barrels, are much more robust.

 

[fourtytwo]

I found one amongst the detritus left by the previous occupants, they are quite thick, probably twice that of a wicks etc butt.

Unfortunately this lot cut the top right off so it now drops down inside. I just use it as a compost bin ATM.

You could cut the top off, fit the tap then make a new top from wood or
Attach some metal strips to the top to stop it falling inside, or just put some screws through the sides near the top for the sawn off top to rest on.
Presumably you only want the top there to stop rubbish (leaves etc) falling inside.

 

[Mottie]

I have one of those on my plot at the allotment. I have two other barrels connected together with a hose at the bottom. The one like you have is the overflow barrel for when the two others are full. The top has been cut off and just lays on top to stop leaves falling in. If I need water from that, I just remove the top and dip my watering can or a bucket in there. Takes ages to fill a water can from a butt.

 

[scbk]

The white/clear ones aren't great for water storage, you'll get more algae cos the light can get to the water.

You need to cut the top off, you can reuse it as a cover though.

I've got some as "dunkers" and some with scrap household taps

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Takes ages to fill a water can from a butt.

Not with a proper tap on and beats carrying it from a tap back at the house. I think I might have solved fitting the tap - I found a fitting with a flange, a thread, a sealing washer and a nut. Basically, drill a hole, fish the fitting through, with washer, then screw the nut on tight. The thread suits a compression fitting, short stub of 20mm pipe, then a tap.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

The white/clear ones aren't great for water storage, you'll get more algae cos the light can get to the water.

I was planning anyway, to cut the leaking one down the side, and clip it over the top of new barrel.

 

[scbk]

Here's another use for the drums, you make the 'pockets' by cutting a slot, heating it, ramming a glass bottle in

 

[JohnD]

I think you will find the plastic will embrittle and crack because it will not resist sunlight.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Collecting that, turned into an absolute marathon...

The road out of the village, was closed, due to an HGV having turned over on the roundabout, which had a knock-on effect, on several other roads being closed too. What should have been a 20 minute drive, turned into an hour. The satnav, took us to the address I'd been given, but the front gate was derelict, and a few enquiries, suggested, the road was not the one we were looking for, but had a different name. So much tooing and froing. Messaged the seller, who said the actual entrance was on a street, running off the road we were on, that they never used the derelict front gate. If only he'd given us this second address..

As it's a gorgeous night, we plodded on, and got a tap installed, successfully, with a revised method. The flange kept turning, trying to tighten the fitting. I eventually solved it, but soldering a short stub of pipe, into the flanged fitting.

[EDIT] Having worked out what the 'flanged fitting was', it was similar to an Essex Flange, except instead of having an hex on the inside, it had a pair of pegs cast into the back of the flange, to prevent it turning.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Here's another use for the drums, you make the 'pockets' by cutting a slot, heating it, ramming a glass bottle in

We are already making use of an old base off-cut, as a planter - cut from what used to be a water butt, serving my garage, many years ago.

 

[scbk]

I usually get a couple of blue drums per year dropped off at the house from my brother's work, if they didn't come here I think they would go in the skip.

I've got one down the garden in use for comfrey fertiliser. Top cut off, no tap, and the top just rests back on with a couple of bricks to stop it blowing away.
You fill it up with comfrey, water, then leave for a good few weeks minimum until you start using it, dunk a bucket in then water it down and apply to plants. It's anaerobic.

Thought I would try a dry (aerobic) comfrey system next, which will produce a much more concentrated fertiliser.

 

[scbk]

So I took another blue drum out of the stockpile today.
I normally cut the lids off by taking out one of the bungs, and use that as a start point for the jigsaw to go round the rim. File off any rough edges and try and tip as much plastic dust into the bin as you can.
I've got a box of old household taps, I've used a basin tap which is 1/2", fine for this, but for normal rainwater use a 3/4" bath tap is better.
Cut the end of the tap off so the liquid will come straight out.
Drilled a 20mm hole so the tap is a really snug fit, it actually threads on to the drum. A good smear of silicone sealant on either side then do up the nut - not easy on your own!

Made a hinged lid using a couple of thick cable ties and a scrap of plastic from the spare top of another drum, riveted on

Inside there's 2 bricks and another spare drum top, the idea with that is the liquid can pass round the sides, but it should keep the leaves away from the tap.

It's hidden down the garden so as a stand I just used a couple of old wheels and some scraps of wood.


Not done it before, the idea is you fill it with comfrey (and weigh it down with a stone), maybe the odd splash of water, and the thick black fertiliser will collect in the bottom.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

We covered the white plastic 200L drum, with a piece of visqueen(sp?), cut to size, leaving a full height vertical gap, above the tap, so we could keep an eye on the water level.

We were thinking about what to do with old, leaky butt, last night. First thought was to cut it into bits, to fit in the bin - second idea, and the one we settled on, was to cut it 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 to make a couple of planters and dispose of the centre bit. It has a large access hole in the top, with a large cover. The cover will drop into the inside of the upper 1/3, to make a base, to keep the soil in.

 

[scbk]

You might be able to repair the old water butt with plastic welding, if you wanted?

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

You might be able to repair the old water butt with plastic welding, if you wanted?

No, too late, it is now planters.

I tried to do that a few years ago, I am good at plastic welding, but having done it, I then discovered even more cracks in it. It was discarded by next door, because it leaked so much - it seemed it was allowed to freeze..