Ballcock in waterbutt??

[Chestnut]

So, I want to put a couple of waterbutts in at home, to supply blueberries with rainwater during the summer months. Trouble is, our guttering and downpipes are all in the wrong places!

One (best?) option would be to fit a rainwater diverter to a downpipe about 8 feet up, then run tubing along the top of the living room window and round the corner to the waterbutts. However, without drilling through 4 inches of concrete, there is no obvious way to take an overflow back to the drain...

So, I was wondering if it would be possible to fit some kind of on/off switch to stop water flowing through the tubing from the rainwater diverter to the waterbutt when the butt gets full - almost like the ballcock valve on a toilet cistern? That way there ‘shouldn’t ‘ be any need for an overflow pipe...

Has anyone tried anything similar??

[nickdub]

Yep - I frequently have a few set-ups with a ball-cock in the system. Roughly what I do is to have a tank 50 gallon or larger under the down-pipe (that would be where the water diverter was fitted in your case I think) then I run a length of hose from there to where I have my smaller holding tank ( I use the plastic ones that were commonly fitted in attics at one time (about 12 gallons) some old ones I have came with a ball cock already fitted and I just connect the hose to that. I keep this holding tank inside the greenhouse so the water will warm up - if I'm going to be dip filling a lot of cans I connect a second of these without the ball cock by means of another short piece of hose used as a permanent siphon - its easier to get a 2 gallon watering can in a small tank like this if there's nothing else in the way.

Happy to explain further if any of that doesn't make sense.

[ESBkevin]

If you fit the diverter level with the high fill mark of the butts it will self regulate, you probably know that and it's not practical in your situation unless you completely send all the downpipe to over the butts and then insert the diverter there and send all the downpipe back to the drain. (Does that make sense)?

[veggiechicken]

Do you have any GH or shed roofs you can use? That's how I catch rainwater!

[Potstubsdustbins]

It will work just make sure you get a low pressure ball cock not a standard high pressure job which will not fully open in the set up

[1Bee]

I have nothing to add, but the thread title makes me smile.

[nickdub]

It will work just make sure you get a low pressure ball cock not a standard high pressure job which will not fully open in the set up

I ran in to that issue - so I drilled a hole in a stone, took the ball off - pushed the rod trhough the hole and screwed the ball back on :-)

[Chestnut]

Thanks folks. It’s always reassuring to know that it can be done successfully, before I start sawing and drilling

Unfortunately no shed yet (I hope to build one at some point, using a fantastic post-war garden carpentry booklet which belonged to my grandfather. Instructions for shed on less than one Page of foolscap- How can I resist a challenge like that?!). Greenhouse is in an awkward corner, though the other GH at allotment is already earning its keep as a waterbutt filler

Now off to google local plumbing merchants for a low pressure ballcock

[Potstubsdustbins]

That's one way to do it Nick but it is much easier to fit the red low pressure valve seat provided

[nickdub]

:-) this was about 30 years ago - not sure what was provided, but I just scavenged some old stuff, then took action when it was rather slow to refill. ( I'm a longstanding bodger )