Joining water butts in series

[DrPhill]

I have a narrow, fairly innaccessible space into which I could put several water butts to store rainwater. As I would only be able easily to access the end one, I would like these to fill and empty as a group. That means a low-level connection between all water butts.

Has anyone done this? I can think of two ways:

1. Drill two connection points into some water butts so that they can be linked. Advantage- known tech, all parts available. Disadvantage - the more holes in a butt the more likely it is to leak.
2. Use three-way connectors on the pipes between the butts. But I am not sure where to source these.

Any other ides would be welcome.

Thanks in advance, folks.

 

[Blackswanwood]

Something like this …

https://www.suttons.co.uk/garden-eq...MIkpuYzYuV9AIVAe7tCh1LOQPSEAQYAyABEgII5fD_BwE
I bet the components are available cheaper elsewhere!

 

[Ollie78]

I bought some connectors from Wickes, I have three joined in series. Very easy, just drill a hole in each barrel and screw the fitting on.
If doing it again I would consider joining them at the bottom rather than the top. So that they all auto level. At the moment the first fills up then the second etc. For me it's not too bad as I can get to each tap.


Ollie

 

[rob1693]

At least joining at the top guarantees if you did have leak you don't lose any water

 

[Daniel2]

For the op's purposes he would definitely need to connect them at the bottom,
so that he can empty them all by taking only from the first one in the line.

 

[Terry - Somerset]

If connected at the top, only that closest to the tap will empty. All the other butts will be left full.

Bigger butts = fewer butts = less potential for leaks!

I very, very large tank would mean no leaks!

 

[DrPhill]

One large tank would be easiest - but maximum width of access is 800mm.
Some butts are built with reinforced positions for an extra connection.

I can see me getting at least four to start. And expanding to six or even eight. I have two low-quality butts at present - by not connected together. When the dry season comes my veg get through those quite fast.

 

[paulrbarnard]

I have two butts connected at the bottom like this. They have been in place for five years now with no issues. The connection is about 5 inches up from the bottom to avoid blockages.

 

[Doug B]

I joined at low level 3 water butts down the allotment with Speedfit tank connectors & 22mm plastic pipe, really easy to do & still going strong 5 years on.
https://www.toolstation.com/jg-speedfit-tank-connector/p61271

 

[MorrisWoodman12]

How's this for a slightly different way. Please note though I'm not too sure it will work I think it shows some promise.
Connect all the butts at the top but the top connections must have hose running from the bottom of the first butt through the top connection and then to the bottom of the second butt. Thus when the first butt fills it should siphon into the second until the water levels are equal and similarly when first and second are full into the third. I can see it would be best to draw water off the first butt. The advantage is that the holes in the butts are at a high level so will only leak when the butts are full so not so much of an issue. The disadvantage is that the water in the second and subsequent butts could stagnate. The big question: will there be enough water flow to activate the siphon?
I remember moving into a house having a two butt system with a siphon pipe, a piece of hose simply looping over the rims of the butts. It worked well until the butts, and therefore the siphon, ran dry. I just replaced it with a connection between the two at the top but then I could access the taps on both butts.
Have fun.
Martin

 

[flying haggis]

Something like this …

https://www.suttons.co.uk/garden-eq...MIkpuYzYuV9AIVAe7tCh1LOQPSEAQYAyABEgII5fD_BwE
I bet the components are available cheaper elsewhere!

The description is wrong in that ad. The way they are shown in the pic being linked does not mean that when one is full the other will fill, they will both fill togeteher which is what the op wants. the sutton one doesnt look very water tight with only corrugated pipe pushed onto a ribbed outlet. The water pressure would soon push the hose off the fitting, and where would the tap fit??? That type of fitting should only be used at the top of the barrel fitted into the provided holes! Stick with the speedfit fittings as they are intended to be used on domestic water storage tanks in the loft so wont leak. It cant afford to leak or the house could be flooded.

 

[Terry - Somerset]

Connect all the butts at the top but the top connections must have hose running from the bottom of the first butt through the top connection and then to the bottom of the second butt. Thus when the first butt fills it should siphon into the second until the water levels are equal and similarly when first and second are full into the third. I can see it would be best to draw water off the first butt.

This is a neat way to prevent all but trivial leaks. Assume 5 butts connected, No.1 fed from roof/guttering, water drawn from No 5.

When a butt runs dry, the vacuum/syphon in the hose will be lost. All butts need to be refilled to a level above the hoses before the hose is refilled to restore the syphon. So any new rainfall will be inaccessible until all butts are full.

If both water feed and water drawn all come from No. 1 butt, the same issue with a loss of syphon will occur. But any refilling from new rainfall will be immediately available in No.1 butt. The others will start to refill only when No.1 is full.

 

[Daniel2]

All of these complications are avoided, when the butts are simply connected
at the bottom.

 

[Cabinetman]

Yes I joined three together with short lengths of pipe and brass fittings the only problem was getting the fitting into the hole near the bottom of a deep barrel that only had a 4 inch hole at the top and I didn’t want to increase the size of that hole, I overcame this with a long piece of wood with a right angle joint at the bottom which was then shaped with a round tapered end, this was jammed into the fitting and then lowered through the hole in the top and then out through the hole in the bottom, tightened up and then the wooden taper was knocked out from the outside and lifted out through the top hole ready for the next one. Ian

 

[Woodchip Wilbur]

Unless you scoop water out of the top of a water butt and have no tap at all, you are going to have a hole in the bottom of every butt. The leak risk is purely down to the quality of the fitting you choose to fit, whether that is a tap or a connector. The fact that intermediate tanks will have two holes is, I suspect, fairly irrelevant to the risk. It is certainly no greater than the three connections you would make with your suggested "three-way connectors on the pipes between the butts". You probably (as has been suggested) live in a house with this sort of connection over your head already. KISS!

 

[okeydokey]

However you join them if you get a blockage in the tap due to sediment - easy fix just hosepipe water up the tap and cleared in seconds.

 

[Trainee neophyte]

If I was doing this, I think would make a single hole 6" from the bottom of each barrel for a bulkhead connector and then join them all together externally using T - pieces. Having made enough holes in barrels in my time, I know that this is the risky bit - hole saws tend not to wander and there is always lots of snaggy swarf which needs trimming and/or sanding.They usually seal well but I have had an occasional problem. The fewer holes in each tank the better the success rate.

All the external pipes will happily freeze, so you probably want good lagging.

 

[PhilTilson]

Most of the various arguments have been played out above. I have three large tanks connected together to provide drinking water storage at my house in Spain (necessary because the water supply is notoriously unreliable!). My advice would be to connect a short pipe into the bottom of each tank, a couple of inches up from the bottom, then put in a stop valve, then tee all of them into a common pipe. This means that the tanks fill and drain equally, but also means that if you need to clean a tank, fix a leak, etc you can isolate that particular tank without having to drain or disturb the others. And just one hole per tank.

 

[Richard_C]

Conventional way is joining at the bottom, dead simple. Lagging surely not necessary because you only really use water in the garden when its not freezing weather. West Somerset rarely suffers deep freeze conditions. Stopcocks a nice idea but if you lost all your water it's inconvenient but not a tragedy (Its not vital drinking water after all) so I would go the simple route.

Think about access to the diverter (assuming you will fit one to the downpipe and into top of barrel 1). You do need to access this occasionally to clear it out if you get moss off the roof or leaves etc., if its hard to do get a guard - don't recall what they are called but just a grid you shove into the top of the downpipe where it comes off the gutter.

I have had a couple in place for 25 years no problem. A full one is heavy so make sure whatever it stands on will support it for many years - I used a pile of concrete blocks - and make sure tap is high enough to get your watering can under. My neighbour proudly fitted 2 linked butts complete with tap but at ground level then realised the only way to get water out is to dip can in from the top. (I look after his garden when he is away so share the pain, keep meaning to re-engineer it for him).

 

[daftdog]

I get tank connectors from my local plumber merchants 20mm size I fix these about 300 mm connect in series from the barrel bottom I have built a 2 ft high stillage and run one pipe with tap into my greenhouse I feed the down spout from the greenhouse into one barrel be sure to add lids to all barrels I drowned a squirrel last year by accident