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Small Urban Gardens and Water Butts - Advice Required

Hello Ladies/Gents

I'm completing a university project and was hoping some of you would be able to give me some advice? The project is to design a new product and after observing my Grandad and his struggle to collect water in his small(ish) garden I thought there was an opportunity (not to just use a bucket!).

If you could spare me a moment and tell me what you use to collect water? Most purchasable water butts are too big for his garden.

My initial thoughts are to design a reasonably small collapsible water butt that could be easily stored away when not required? I also thought you could somehow pick it up and use it for watering too (would really depend on weight!!)

Any thoughts/comments/feedback would be really appreciated and helpful!!

Thanks

Paul

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  • patty3patty3 Posts: 129

    imageHI PAUL,

    I HAD TO SMILE WHEN I READ YOUR WATER PROBLEM. IT BROUGHT TO MIND

    DESERT PEOPLE WITH ANIMAL SKIN WATER CARRIERS JUST LIKE A SHOULDER BAG!

                       sorry i am not helping,

     I LIVE TWO FLIGHTS UP FROM MY GARDEN, SO I KNOW THE PROBLEM.

    I HUNG A HOSE OUT OF THE WINDOW TO FILL  A TUB BELOW.

    GOOD LUCK WITH IT

     

  • Thanks for the reply! I suppose it would fit the criteria of sustainable just need a supply of skins if it takes off lol!

    image

  • gardengirl6gardengirl6 Posts: 223

    There are small slimline water butts available nowadays, as well as the large ones.   I am not sure about folding one up or putting it away when not needed.     When is water not needed?     I have a total of nine water butts, and often it is a problem to keep them filled!

  • When you think of something chances are it's already been done.. collapsible water butt certainly has. There are many online, i think even tesco direct sell a smallish one. 

  • AlieshAliesh Posts: 179

    Hi i have  recyled an old rectangle  plastic water tank on my allotment.

    A small container would soon be filled and overflow!

  • I agree its very difficult to come up with something that hasn't already been marketed/patented. I suppose there is always the opportunity to improve on an idea? I've placed this request on a couple of sites because I wasn't sure I'd get any feedback - so thank you all very much!

    GardenGirl6 nine water butts surely must be excessive image. During my last assignment I read a report of the RHS that said gardens in the UK only need watering during 6 weeks of the year (it did exclude the south of England). I'm not an obsessed gardener yet but it annoys me how many locals still regularly fill their watering cans up at outside taps!

  • Hmmm. If you have pots and tubs, you have to water. There are times when my two water butts overflow, here in wet Wales, but in drought, they soon dry up. Some plants are drought tolerant, but others are both greedy and very thirsty. Conifers in pots, for example, can drink the best part of a gallon of water a day. My garden is small, but one water butt would not be enough for drier spells. Something depends, too, on one's style of gardening, but it would be difficult to concentrate on drought tolerant plants here. It is too wet. As for using outside taps, that's the fall-back position if you do not have enough water butts!! We have a water meter and pay for what we use. Britain is not actually short of water. It is short of reservoirs and that is a situation that can be rectified.

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,138

    This garden is a free-draining sandy loam, and is also quite dry in places because of the mature trees on the far boundary - I used about 8 large watering cans full of water this evening just on shrubs and climbers planted last autumn and some perennials that need a bit of tlc in their first spring in this garden.  We have water butts on all our downpipes and use grey water too, but one of our butts is already empty and another one is only half full.

    East Anglia has long been known as the driest part of the country so we certainly need to water quite a bit more than 6 weeks of the year.


    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • steephillsteephill Posts: 2,841
    How about a series of connected watering cans working on the syphon principle? Could even be all filled in parallel from a horizontal trough. That could be an easily expandable system, just buy more watering cans. All rights reserved, you read it hear first. Unless I saw it somewhere else of course image
  • We do too, even though this is one of the wettest parts of the country. We would have to abandon the use of pots and tubs, otherwise. Spreading shrubs and trees allow little water to enter their pot, even in heavy rain. The more intensive the planting, often the only real choice in a small garden, the more watering is needed. Then there is the greenhouse and things grown under other covered areas. Hence the water butts.

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