Installing a Water Butt — Full Guide
Do not use water butt water for drinking, cooking, or watering vegetables where water contacts the edible parts — it may contain bacteria and pollutants from roof runoff.
A water butt is one of the most straightforward and eco-friendly garden improvements you can make. A standard 200-litre butt can save 5,000–24,000 litres of tap water per year and significantly reduces your garden watering costs. Installation takes 1–2 hours and requires no plumbing skills.
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Choose the location — ideally against a wall with a downpipe from a roof or greenhouse. The butt needs to be on a raised, stable, level base so you can fit a watering can under the tap. Use a dedicated water butt stand (£15–30) or build a base from paving slabs.
Measure the height of the base plus the water butt and mark on the downpipe where the diverter kit will connect — the diverter inlet should be at or slightly above the butt lid level.
Cut the downpipe at the marked point using a hacksaw or pipe cutter. Remove a section approximately 80mm long (check the diverter kit instructions for exact measurement).
Fit the diverter kit into the cut section of downpipe. The diverter automatically fills the water butt and diverts overflow back down the downpipe when the butt is full — no manual intervention needed.
Run the flexible hose from the diverter to the inlet on the water butt lid. Clip the hose to the wall if needed to keep it tidy.
Fit the tap to the outlet on the water butt — this is a push-fit connection on most modern butts. Position the tap high enough that a watering can fits underneath.
To daisy-chain multiple butts, connect the overflow outlet of the first butt to the inlet of the second using the supplied linking kit. This doubles your storage capacity.
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