"Lee Nowell" wrote in message
...
Hi All,

Just wanted to get your thoughts on this one...

I am looking to install 3 water butts on a down pipe to capture as
much rain as possible. Question is, how best to connect them??

My initial thought was to...

1. Install a rain water diverter and feed the water into the first
butt
2. cut a hole a 3rd of the way up the first butt and connect this to
the bottom (ie where the tap usually goes) of butt 2. Ensuring the
pipe is horizontal. (i.e. butt 2 is higher than butt 1)
3.connect butt 3 to butt 2 again at the bottom (i.e. butt 2 and 3 are
at the same height)

In ASCII art if it makes it any clearer!!......

1 2 3

[ ] [ ]
[ ] [ ] [ ]
[ ]------[ ]-----[ ]
[ ] ------ ------
-------

My thought process was that this should leave a good depth in butt 1
to fit a pump to pump the water to the garden.

Is this the best way to do it?

Thanks in advance for your help

Lee.


Assuming tank 1 is open to the air at the top, and does not have a float
valve to shut off the water on the input from tank 2, then tanks 2 and 3
will not get any fuller than the top of tank 1 (so 2/3 full before tank 1
overflows, in your diagram, if it is to scale!).

If you get an external pump, then you can just join all three tanks at the
bottom make sure they are all at the same height, and take the water from
any of them.

If you have to use a submersible pump, then if you can get a slightly taller
tank1, and situate it so the top of it is at the same level as 2 and 3, that
would be ideal.

Toby...