Water provision

[Two_Sheds]

There is some discussion about the water provision planned for my allotments- they have bought 4 cattle troughs for people to dip watering cans into instead of taps which could be left on.

I love cattle troughs ... it makes people think twice about wasting water if they have to lug cans around the plot.

We have push-button taps at present, and hosepipes are banned. Everyone manages.

At my last plot, we had normal taps, and you couldn't get to it because some muppet always had their hosepipe constantly attached. Because they could.

[Plot17B]

i like the sound of the lids... presumeably to stop freezing/evaporation?! are they heavy to life on and off though? im thinking where we are, if they weren't heavy they would fly away... makes it difficult.

Hi, yes, like jackie J says, the lids just slide off. We have cut-to-size plywood with small blocks screwed on the underneath to seat them into the troughs. So perfect, light and they don't fly off (a brick on top is old technology but works!). And as just plywood sheets 2'x1' they are not worth nicking.

And yep, stops evapouration, leaf and other bits landing inside and also stops the waterborne bugs from breeding inside. Simple, smart, effective.
P17B

[jackie j]

what do people use for their water butts? How much and where from?

We bought ours from B & Q or somewhere but you can get them cheaper from other places like the recycling centre if you have one near. Ask at your local council if they sell them. Lots of places to buy them from.

[Alison]

Wickes is the cheapest place round here to buy new butts but it's worth keeping an eye on Freecycle etc. Interestingly enough, although in theory we can get reduced price ones from the water authority, they're posher ones which, even when reduced, still cost more than the Wickes ones.

[Matt.]

We have wells and manual hand pumps. There is about one well for every 15 plots. Some folk use petrol driven pumps, other use a watering can and walk back and forth. I use a 1" pipe to connect the pump to my water barrels. About 30 mins hard work gets me 600 litres which I use with a leaky hose. It works well.

[SarzWix]

We have no water laid on whatsoever on our site. I can't see any reason why there should be, unless your site doesn't allow sheds - as long as you have a roof, you have water! I have 2 baths and an old cistern fitted with a tap on one plot, 2 old plastic dustbins and a 330l water butt on the next plot, and 2 baths and a 1000l container on the other. These fill up over winter and provide enough water for the plots and 2 large greenhouses. There are newbies to the site chuntering on about wanting water taps, but the cost to lay the pipes etc runs into a ridiculous number of thousands, so it's unlikely to happen unless Yorkshire Water decide to do it out of the goodness of their hearts... Unlikely!!

[toastie]

Our site has about 100 plots with standpipes every 6 or so plots, along with a trough at every point - think we pay about £10 per plot. Only used the hosepipe last year when it was very hot and dry. Also have a water butt with guttering from the shed to ensure we catch rainwater. Most plots have at least one water butt and/or container to catch rainwater.

[moppet_217]

Our site did have water but I have just got a letter today from the allotments officer saying that our water will not be turned on this year.

Appraently the water usage for 2008 has doubled since 2007. We only took our plot on a few months ago but apparently thier were cases last year when people were watering thier veg while sheltrering under an umberlla from the rain.

We do not have a shed. We were going to put one up but in the last few weeks nearly every shead and water but has been burnt down.

Any suggestions on a solution that will not attract vandels?