Connecting a rainwater diverter to a butt

Assuming you're not as off as Tommy, how about just raising the butt a bit?

Would it not be simpler to fit an overflow pipe to the butt that dumps excess water back into the downpipe below the diverter?

Colin Bignell

In place of the tap, I actually have a hose with a hook on the end, which when not in use, sits in the down pipe, just below the maximum water level. This is used to fill cans etc. without fiddling with a tap. Helps change the water during heavy downpours and ensures any excess goes into the downpipe. Works well.

Andy C

Dunno but he's been a berk on two counts. Firstly for putting the diverter in *above* the maximum desired water level and secondly for using one of those horrid diverter devices. It *will* get blocked with leaves and moss and if you've glued it all together you'll have fun unblocking it.

Not sure if there's a better diverter around though.

Tim

You put the diverter in the downpipe at the height you want the water to be in the butt. The surplus water bypasses the scoop thing which is full when the butt is full and carries on down the pipe.down the pipe

For that particular installation he may as well have put the downpipe into the butt and let it overflow. The downpipe just empties onto the slab anyway.

Mine just has the downpipe into it.. it then has a few small holes drilled a few inches from the top.

If it rains the level rises and then leaks away slowly into the ground while still keeping some water for watering with.

Its positioned on top of the soakaway.

There are various designs that claim to be better, and plausibly look as if they might be. I don't know if they really are though. Anyone tried them?

On Tuesday 08 October 2013 18:26 Tim+ wrote in uk.d-i-y:

This looks like a better design:

Bulky though...

My diverter does just that. You have to set it quite precisely to get the butt just full. But I left a bit of excess on the down pipe so I can slide the diverter a bit just to get the level right.

They should not be glued together precisely for that reason

Surely we need a crossover with the portable bidet thread... :-)

I thought it was terribly logical to put an ordinary T-junction in the down pipe and glue a sloping partition inside to divert ALL of the water into th e butt until it was full, when the water goes down the downpipe again. I've done that and it works very well. That video is just dreadful.

On Tue, 8 Oct 2013, "Broadback" writ:

This guy is an idiot! Downpipe adapter far too high so that the butt will overflow. Stand round the wrong way so that you can't get a watering can or anything else underneath. Solvent glue, totally unnecessary and a positive hindrance if you want to remove any part of the installation at a later date.

It must be a spoof video surely! How can anyone possibly make that many mistakes whilst purportedly showing people how to do it?

Gluing it is complete madness since the diverter will inevitably catch moss and leaves and need cleaning out about once a year. ISTR the instructions with diverters say that you put it so that the overflow lip is at the height you want the water level in the butt.

The diverter design is the weak point. Perhaps their intention is to force people to buy a new drainpipe and diverter from them annually.