I think the question is a good one. I don't think smaller tanks are much use. I have about 100 ltrs storage in total which is pretty useless and take up a lot of space in a small garden (three metres wide). The butts are full in the winter, when I don't need them, and empty in the summer, when I do need them. They come into usefulness in October and May for a few weeks. I have found that using grey water (directly, not saved) is of much more practical use to me. Those people who seem to benefit most from the butts on this forum have gone very large and are very eco-driven..
I am (instead) turning towards drought-tolerant planting that need much less watering. Thick mulches, ground covers, few pots, hard core perennial plants or self seeders that can look after themselves pretty much.
Well the eco-mantra is reduce, reuse, recycle and the same applies to water. So I agree, mulches, ground cover and the right plants is a good way to go. We are heading in that direction, but not quite there....
Our garden is 3hectares (no decimal) and we have large butts on every down pipe which adds up to about 1,000litres. All bought cheap at manufacturer’s shops sales as we just happen to live close to two firms that make them! We also have a siphon from upstairs bathroom for my weekly bathwater, and a rectangular bucket that sits in the shower during droughts.
We will water new plants in borders, but otherwise its pots and veg garden only. So we just about manage, as there’s also a public fountain a few minutes walk away that we can take cans of water from when times are bad (but when times are really bad it has no water either). Our biggest problem is our pond, which is naturally fed and in drought years drops alarmingly low (we never take water from it). We have an emergency plan to catch and foster out the fish, but luckily it’s never had to be activated - just!
Now I do have a 5 acre "garden".. no decimal Of course I don't irrigate almost anything but last year in the drought I was watering around 600m2 of vegetables and two greenhouses of tomatoes (48m2 in total there) Outside was watered every two days inside daily I found that I was using about 300L per time.
As to waterbutts if you have a large garden use pallet tanks (ibc) they hold 1000L (1100 right to the top) Just check what was in them before you get them, roundup would not be so good for the plants, they can normally be found cheap direct from farmers or in the free ads.
I've just bought an old farm and the piss tank from the cows is still in place, I'm dreaming of running the gutters into that no idea how big it really is but it's at least 40000L probably more. Unfortunately I sell vegetables and they need drinking quality water sigh.. £5 a cubic meter here!
Posts
Our garden is 3hectares (no decimal) and we have large butts on every down pipe which adds up to about 1,000litres. All bought cheap at manufacturer’s shops sales as we just happen to live close to two firms that make them! We also have a siphon from upstairs bathroom for my weekly bathwater, and a rectangular bucket that sits in the shower during droughts.
We will water new plants in borders, but otherwise its pots and veg garden only. So we just about manage, as there’s also a public fountain a few minutes walk away that we can take cans of water from when times are bad (but when times are really bad it has no water either). Our biggest problem is our pond, which is naturally fed and in drought years drops alarmingly low (we never take water from it). We have an emergency plan to catch and foster out the fish, but luckily it’s never had to be activated - just!