Extending the life of my water butt

This is not my water butt

It rained today, for the first time in weeks.

Okay, that's not entirely true. We've had a couple of insubstantial showers in the last couple of days, but today's downpour was the first to start refilling the empty water butt. Is the long, dry summer finally over?

Keeping the garden watered throughout a prolonged dry spell is a challenge for many gardeners, particularly the cost-conscious in the south west of England, which has highest water prices in the UK. We effectively subsidise all those tourists who flock to our corner of the country and use our water and sewers during their summer holiday.

Not that I'm complaining. The tourist stay here for a couple of weeks - we get to live here all year round.

But back to the subject in hand - water in the garden.

Fixing the water butt

The previous owner of my house had already installed a water butt attached to a down pipe from the guttering, allowing it to fill every time it rained. It's a big, green plastic butt - not sympathetically sited, but it works.

Within weeks I spotted a problem with the butt. Water was squirting out from near the base. A tiny split had opened in the plastic and the precious contents was draining on to the patio.

I'd had the problem before, in Hampshire. Here two plastic water butts, both less than 10 years old, had split at the base. It's no surprise really, given the massive weight of water they hold when full. To prolong the life of your water butt perhaps you should keep them no more than a half or two-thirds full.

Curiously, when I googled the issue of leaking water butts I found it hard to find anyone reporting a similar problem. My gardening friends hadn't experienced leaks. For a while I felt unique in having three plastic butts fail on me.

Silicone to the rescue

Someone suggested that I buy silicone from my local DIY store and apply this to both sides of the split in the water. This meant emptying the butt completely and allowing it to dry out. I then wiped out the inside, near the hairline crack, to give the silicone a clean surface to bond against.

Working with silicone inside a big water butt, at arm's length in the gloom, was tricky but I managed to apply a layer. I did the same on the outside surface, and hoped that would do the trick.

Unfortunately, water exploits weaknesses tenaciously and one the butt refilled, it began to ooze through despite the silicone. The flow was slowed, but the butt was still emptying itself over a period of several days.

The next step in the water butt repair

The next step was to apply some waterproof tape I had left over in my tool box. Again, it meant drying the inside of the butt - a relatively easy task on a hot summer morning as I tilted it to face the sunshine.

I then applied the tape, again inside and out. I applied three or four layers on the outside, overlapping one another.

The end result is a water butt that still leaks, but now very slowly. I've placed a small tub under the leak to catch the drips and this tub takes several days to fill. I also have a butt that holds water for several weeks and that I can use for watering plants and topping up to the pond.

There's more work to be done on water management in my garden, but this is a start.