Water butt hyrodynamics cont & +

[T i m]

Hi All,

Today I connected my 3 x 100l water butts up together using David Hansens 'coupled tap' method. ;-)

The first two were already full (from the rainwater diverter) and the third was nearly empty. When I turned on all the taps it took nearly

15 mins for the levels in the 3 butts to equalize, due I guess to the relatively small diameter of the taps (and bends etc) and interconnecting hoses.

With the current moderate rain here I'm getting approx 1.2l / min so if it took 15 mins to level the 2 full 100 l butts with the empty one then is that 66/15 or ~4.5 l / min (so therefore shouldn't need any other interconnecting pipes)?

Once I've sorted the guttering on the lean-to (currently white Hunter Square stuff .. want to use round white down pipe to connect another rainwater diverter (but need square to round converter to do that), available but not easy to find round here) then 3rd butt will also be fed to the same as the other two but from the opposite direction.

The next thing is do is to work out the best way to auto irrigate my runners / cucumbers / toms (all at a lower level than the butts).

I was using a Hoselock AC1+ (on-off auto timer) pre hose_pipe_ban so would like to get back to that for just 'background_don't_forget' type watering at least but not sure if the AC1+ will work when on low pressure (and my fine perforated hosepipe pipe and drippers)?

So, do I fit a pressure sensing (and float protected) pump in one of the butts (now they are all interconnected) and just continue with the existing hardware (if so anyone know a proven vfm device please)?

(with a pumped solution I can also auto water the tumbler toms in my hanging baskets) ;-)

All the best ..

T i m

[meow2222]

thats slow, though functional. Shortening pipes, using wider ones, or replacing restrictive valves with full bore ones would all speed it up, but i It should still work reasonably like that.

which will double fill rate roughly. It should all work.

NT

[T i m]

Indeed .. ;-)

All as short as possible ..

The 'pipe' is simply hose pipe and is a neat fit on the tap (and that in turn fits a moulded / threaded hole). The elbows and 'T's' *could * be a bit bigger and have more gentle radii but I don't think it will improve matters *that much*?

Hmm, I could but it would be a big disturbance .. ;-(

Yup, it seems to be ok atm. Not sure how well the smaller / lower diameter taps will cope with any debris that does get in there (gotta rig some input filters) but it shouldn't be too difficult to clean out in any case.

Well feed1 is from the rear pitch, rear extension and further extension of our Victorian end_of_terrace house. Feed2 is from a semi sheltered 2x3m lean_to so I doubt it will be anywhere near as much. However, during the last shower I 'directed' from over 6' away the lean_to rainwater (stop end + 45deg elbow) into a 2g watering can and when I just checked it was full! ;-)

All the best ..

T i m

[Peter Andrews]

A pair of tights make a good filter on the bottom of a drain pipe, they stretch as they fill with debris - need changing about every 6 months.

Peter

[T i m]

I did that when I installed a water butt at my Mums as she wanted the down pipe fed straight into the thing (it was only off about 1/3 of the garage roof).

I'm not sure how can do this with the 'diverter' type of input as mine has a very 'flush fitting on the inside of the butt (nothing to 'hang' a 'tights' filter from) ;-(

I could possibly fit a short length of stiff pipe up the *inside* (from the inside of the butt) of the inlet fitting and attach the 'filter' to that, but I don't really want to restrict the input flow in any way? ;-(

Or, find an alternative 'through bore' fitting that does have some protrusion into the first butt and do the same .

All the best ..

T i m

[David Hansen]

On Sun, 13 Aug 2006 13:49:22 GMT someone who may be T i m wrote this:-

Not quite what I suggested. Connecting them at low level is entirely sensible, but the pipes that connect them should be suitably sized to allow reasonable flow.

Assuming the butts don't have tight fitting lids I don't think yours do allow reasonable flow.

[meow2222]

What do you do with someones butt when theyre unreasonable?

NT

[T i m]

Sri David, checking back I note it was Edgar Iredale's idea re the taps ;-)

Understood, but, the taps that are pretty well part of these butts and seem to be the limiting factor flow-wise, wether it being drawing water from the butt or the 'coupling' of thereof?

So, my thoughts (ignoring low long I might have to stand there to fill a watering can from a single std but or the coupled ones) is as long as the water can flow between the butts faster than the rain can fill No1 then there should be no problems?

Well *if* the level in the first butt reaches the brim then I have a high level cross feed between butts 1 and 2 (and the gear to do the same on 2-3) and no, I don't think the lids are tight enough to affect flow in this case.

All the best ..

T i m

[David Hansen]

On Mon, 14 Aug 2006 22:30:05 GMT someone who may be T i m wrote this:-

Taps are usually a separate item, screwed into a suitable hole. They can be unscrewed and replaced with a tank connector and unimpeded pipe. Two of this sort of tap mechanisms will restrict flow considerably.

[T i m]

These could be those, thread moulded into the butt (not sure *what* thread though, but should be some sort of 'standard' ?

Hmm, that sounds interesting .. get the diameter up without making any more holes ... ?

Well, I don't think the combined output of all 3 butts is actually slower than just one but a better flow would be better for say watering can filling?

I don't think I'd need much more rate for an irrigation system (or I'd drain the lot in 10 seconds!) ;-(

I'll see what fittings I can find would be suitable .. they would need to be slightly 'flexible' to allow movement as butts fill etc?

All the best ..

T i m