The Benefits of Buying a Water Butt

There are plenty of wonderful benefits to be gained from buying a water butt for your gardening activities - especially during the summer months when rainfall is not always as plentiful as it is during the winter.

Whether you buy a mini plastic wall-mounted butt for a small garden or an extra large freestanding wood effect container for a larger outdoor setting, you'll quickly discover there multitude of advantages these rain-saving devices bring.

Here's just a few reasons why buying a water butt is a wise move which you are unlikely to ever regret.

• They are very easy to set up - they can be erected with minimal DIY skills and just a few basic tools. No batteries, power or petrol supply needed, unlike many other garden power tools, features and accessories.

• Butts are suitable for nearly all gardens - no significant requirements other than a level ground surface and downpipe from your roof, to which you attach a downpipe connector hose which runs to the butt.

• A butt gives you a ready supply of water for all your gardening needs, even when the occasional hose pipe ban is in place due to summer drought. They are ideal source of water for your flower beds, greenhouse and hanging baskets.

• A rainwater butt or barrel will allow to make savings on your bills if you use a water meter in your home which is set to charge you for the amount of water you use.

• These containers are very eco-friendly by making use of rainwater that would normally go along your gutters, down your drainpipes and into your drain.

• There also plenty of choice available when it comes to rain butt capacity - they are available as small slimline units with a 100 litre capacity, all the way up to giant size barrels that can hold more than 500 litres of water. So there really is a butt to suit everyone.

• Most people plump for freestanding butts that are positioned on level ground - but there's also the option to choose a wall-mounted version. 

• Harvesting rainwater reduces runoff, and therefore play a part in reducing the pressure on prevent overtaxed storm sewers. Reduced runoff reduces the amount of fertilizer, chemicals, and other substances being washed into the waterways.

• If you need more than one water butt in your garden, no problem - you can easiliy chain several together using butt linking kits. Simply link the butts together and when one of them becomes full, the water will pass to the next in the chain.

• Harvested rainwater is much better for plants, lawns, flowers, fruit and vegetables than tap water. Rainwater is packed with wholesome nutrients, unlike tap water which is often treated with chemicals and chlorine.

• Rain water is free of the minerals that naturally leech into other water sources from the ground.

• Plants and vegetables also flourish more as a result of water in a butt being at a similar ambient temperature as the surrounding environment, as opposed to tap water which is often much cooler.

• In the unlikely scenario that your water supply to your home is cut off for a period of time, you still have a ready supply of it in your water butt or rain barrel.

• Some gardening enthusiasts even use their water butt to keep their grubby garden pots in good condition by hanging them on a piece or string in the device for 12 to 24 hours. The grime on the pots is loosened up and the acid in the water leads to the removal of limescale deposits.

• Rainwater in a butt works well on gardens with neutral clay soil - however, lime rich tap water in a hard water area wouldn't be as kind to this category of soil.

• If you don't have an outside tap in your garden, then installing a water butt makes a lot of sense - it certainly gets rid of the hassle of going into your kitchen or bathroom to fill a watering can every time your plants needs a sprinkle of H20.

As you can see, there's much to be gained from setting up a water butt or barrel in your garden, whether it's beside a downpipe on your house or sitting at the side or your garage, outbuilding or even greenhouse - in fact these versatile containers are good to go anywhere that has a gutter to collect the rainfall.