Problems fitting a rain diverter for a water butt

[Murmansk]

I need to fit a diverter onto a rainwater pipe so that it will fill a water butt. The attached photos show the diverter and the pipes which I am worki ng with, the left hand pipe is the one I need to access and the first metre of it is cast iron coming out of the ground and then it becomes plastic ab ove the cast iron part and goes all the way up to the gutter.   What should happen is that I cut a 25mm section from the pipe and then push the lower pipe down a few inches to insert the diverter, and then move the pipe up again, but because the pipe at the bottom is cast-iron and very so lidly be locked in position I cannot do this.   The length of plastic pipe above the diverter is about 5M long so I can't g et up high enough to disconnect it higher up and I need therefore to work o ut a way of inserting the diverter without being able to move the pipe eith er up or down.

I'd rather not mess with the connection between the plastic and the cast ir on. Once my butt is on its stand the diverter will need to be fitted about

500mm above the join.

Thanks    

[Martin Brown]

Normal way is unclip the long vertical section put the diverter on it and flex both plastic pipes sideways to gain the extra distance.

Expect to have to dismantle and clean it every few years to keep it working (yearly if you have lots of trees overhanging your roof).

Move it sideways.

I think it inevitable that the joint there will be stressed to a point where it breaks unless you are very lucky.

[Chris Hogg]

+1 to all that. If you can't move the lower section sideways, there may be enough 'give' in the upper section to push it upwards, deforming the gutter a bit, temporarily, to fit the diverter in place. Remember that the level of the diverter has to be exactly at the level of the water in the butt, for it to work properly. I used concrete slabs and spare bits of slate and floor tile to adjust the butt height to get mine just right.

[Martin Brown]

My water butt is on a flagstone on top of a couple of stone slabs so its tap is the right height to easily fit a watering can underneath.

[Richard]

This photo is intriguing, it is impossible to judge the size of the diverter. Just an observation, not a criticism.

[Brian Gaff]

Yes my neighbour has always had a drip from his since it was put in but seeing as the idiot who built the extension on the other side of my garden wall built it so close as to make it hard to get at stuff now, there really is no fix unless I demolish my wall or their extension!

However I have seen some creative water storage things around over the years. The one I liked the best was merely a hopper fitted to the cast iron bit poking up through the ground, and the downpipe from the roof going through a small cranked pipe to the butt. then a large bore overflow pipe was fitted to the butt and went to tan angled pipe just above the hopper.

Mind you the neighbour reckoned it started to smell from somewhere at times. Brian

[Chris J Dixon]

Especially if you may need occasional access to clear out debris from the diverter, perhaps you could introduce an extra joint.

You haven't given us the dimensions of the pipe or diverter.

Could you get a short length of pipe which would fit outside your plastic downpipe, and still fit inside the diverter. This would then telescope to permit installation and inspection?

Otherwise, maybe inserting a flexible joint like this might help:

Chris

[Murmansk]

In the end I just did it and it seemed easy enough after I'd removed slightly more than the 25mm of pipe that was specified.

Thanks for your input though