We've got big butts!

We've been busy installing new, large capacity, water butts at Disconnected Energy HQ so that we can make the most of the winter rainfall. To get the best out of the new capacity we had to think carefully about the size, design, and location of the water butts.  As you can see, we chose to install some new, really large, water butts to capture as much rainwater as possible.  This will ensure we have enough for the garden, polytunnel, greenhouse and veggie plot with enough left over to top up the pond if needed.  

As part of our water butt project we had to empty some existing water butts in order to reposition them. The Groundskeeper hose mode came into its own here, effortlessly pumping water out of these butts, with some water being used to top up the pond and the rest being moved into the new butts - all  this in addition to the Groundskeeper's usual scheduled daily watering!  

As with many things in life, you can't just plonk your butt anywhere, there were a few things we needed to consider when installing the water butts, in order to make the most of them. We leveled off some ground to make a good base for the monster-size butts and found shaded places which were not directly under trees to help keep the water cool and prevent contamination by leaves etc.  If you’re thinking of installing some water butts, check out our rainwater harvesting article here for some of our top tips on getting the most out of them.