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Posted: Sun Jul 09, 2006 9:54 pm
by Lottie
We have a flooding garden on clay (as most people seem to on here!!!!) It is not a big problem now as it is on grass but we are having a patio built so we will probably end up with a flooded patio.
We have considered the options of drainage into a mains drain (still an option) but have seen an advert for huge underground water butts with a pumped extract and were thinking of installing one of those. We could then periodically either use it to water the garden in the hose pipe ban or drain it off in the winter into a neighbouring field using a hose.
We can have it under the patio or under the grass (thinking under the grass in case it goes wrong!)
Does anyone have any experience of these underground water butts?
Thanks
Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2006 12:53 am
by TheRobster
I think the biggest problem you'd have is the amount of effort you'd need to put in making sure the butts/tanks were empty at the start of each rainfall event. The worst time would be in autumn/winter when there tends to be more rain and you would be using less stored water on the garden.
It might work but you need to make sure that if the structure floods it does not damage your (or anyone elses!) house.
Alternatively you could just have a dedicated rainwater harvesting system installed. These can use the collected water for non-potable uses, such as toilet flushing, washing machine, watering the garden, washing the car etc. By increasing the uses for the water you would increase the chances of actually having some storage space available when it rains. Of course the tank would still need a viable overflow (usually to the sewer system). You could maybe have the tank under the patio, providing there are no site specific problems with doing this.
There are any number of companies that can supply package rainwater harvesting systems, some of which are listed here:
http://www.ukrha.org
Domestic systems start at around £1,500 and installation costs tend to be around £1,000. How cost effective they are depends mainly on whether or not you are on a water metre and how much water you actually use.
Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2006 12:53 am
by TheRobster
Also, do you have the URL for the underground tanks you saw? Would be interested in seeing what they are like.
Cheers
-Richard
Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2006 9:39 am
by Lottie
Thanks for the advice
I will look into the rain water harvesting system. We are on a water metre and are in the parched South East so it makes sense to try and recycle the water.
The company (Viable rainwater systems) I was looking at for the underground tanks does not have a web site, their freephone number for info is 0800 652 4487. They advertsied in Gardeners World magazine in the July issue