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I want a water butt in my garden. Mainly for watering the plants in the summer.
House is a no go. It's thatched so no guttering.
I've just put up a small 6x6 greenhouse in the garden. Original plan was to fix some guttering one side. Down pipe straight into a water butt. If it overflows then so be it - let it overflow into the garden.
Then I noticed the garage has guttering. It's a semi-detached garage with the neighbour. It has guttering but there is one downpipe in my neighbour's garden. I assume it goes down to a soakaway.
I though perhaps I could add a diverter / downpipe half way along, going down to a waterbutt in my garden. But I am going to have the same problem... When full the butt will overflow. Or I make a soak away? Or I just don't worry about it. Am I overthinking all of this? Just want a waterbutt to save a few baby robins and pennies on my water bill!
Just put a gutter on your greenhouse - likely only cost a couple of pounds for the guttering and easy to fit. Also means you can proceed in blissful ignorance whether the garage surface water is going into foul only sewer (naughty) / combined sewer / soakaway in your neighbours garden.
Where do you think rain water would go without the garage or guttering? You are concentrating the water to some extent but unless you are going to put the new downpipe so that it debouches straight onto grass or earth there's unlikely to be a problem.
About ten years ago we got a greenhouse and I fixed the guttering so that it all went into a water butt, when full it just overflows, there's no diverter. We've also a water butt attached to the downpipe on one side of the house via a diverter, when full the overflow just runs across the patio as it would if the water butt wasn't there.
Cheers for the replies I think you have confirmed I am overthinking it! The overflow of any water butt would be near the lawn but as you say the water has to go somewhere. It's just it will be concentrated a little more around the butt.
Get a 1000L IBC if you can fit it in. Less chance of running empty in the summer. They don't look very 'domestic' though, but it depends how visible it will be. I have one fed from the roof of a logstore and it works a treat for front garden plant watering through the summer.
The water butt I have has an overflow so bunged a piece of hose on there and routed it back to the downpipe (lower than the diverter). I just drilled a hole in the downpipe and stuck the hose through it. No issues so far and it means the area around the water butt isn't a soggy mess anymore.
Not sure I'd bother for a garage or greenhouse, mine is for 2 houses worth of water - semi detatched with 2 downpipes but the guttering slopes my way so the majority of water comes down our downpipe.
Some good tips above. If you can fit and IBC (or 2) then go for that. When there is loads of rain you don't need it and when its very dry the butt runs out pretty quickly. I have routed my overflow with a bit of pipe about 2 inches from the top, it then drains onto the drive which is porous and acts as a soak away. better than having it just flood over the top
I'd probably go for the greenhouse option.
Don't overthink it, as you say, and just get a decent sized Aldi butt and give yourself a nice little pootling project of guttering around the greenhouse. I'm thinking epoxying on brackets to avoid any drilling of delicate things and cheapo guttering on top. Would probably keep the greenhouse cleaner without water running down it all the time as well.
As you say, when it overflows it overflows where it would be flowed off the roof anyway!
Small greenhouse doesn't give much catchment area, I'd be using the garage if that's an option. Standard rain diverter kits fit into the downspout and flow the water into the drain/soakaway once the butt is full.
However, having said all that, just look at the price of a butt, and compare it to the cost of water. It'll cost you about 45p to use 150 litres of tap water and £60 for a 150 litre waterbutt kit, (barrel, stand and diverter kit). Unless you can get a free IBC or old chemical barrel, it'll take bloody years to pay itself back.
Severn Trent subsidise water butts, so I’m sure other water companies will do similar. 20 quid for a 190 litre one with diverter kit...
https://www.savewatersavemoney.co.uk/severntrent/free-water-saving-products