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Rainwater diverter not diverting all water

chrisgay_84chrisgay_84 Posts: 1
in Problem solving
New to the forum, so apologies if something similar has been discussed before. We have a water butt connected to the downpipe by a rainwater diverter. I've noticed that a lot of water is still flowing down the downpipe and is not all going to the water butt. Is it normal for this to happen even when the butt is not full? Could anyone recommend a diverter or system that diverts all rainwater? Thanks in advance.

Posts

  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    Many diverters have a deep lip inside. If that gets filled with 'stuff' then they don't work properly. Just take the diverter off the downpipe turn it upside down and give a good shake. I usually get bit's of sandy grit coming out of mine.
    The only other thing I can think of is that the diverter isn't quite at the right level. I know the one I have needs to be at a level on the downpipe in-line with the overflow on the butt for it to fill properly.
    As far as I know, all diverters are made so that once the butt is full, any further rainwater goes to the drain.

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    Guttermate make a good diverter with filter options that are supposed to stop it clogging up. I just run the water straight into the water butts and then fit them with an overflow though which saves fitting a diverter at all. You need to clean the butt out now and then but it's fine for most plants to have some stewing organic matter at the bottom and the constant water flow helps prevent mosquitos. 
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • mrtjformanmrtjforman Posts: 331
    edited October 2019
    these diverters are designed to only divert water that flows down the outside of the pipe so if a lot of the rainwater falls down the middle of the pipe it will not go into the barrel. I found this a big design flaw on mine - I am sure there are better but I just glued a little "roof" on to mine to divert all water - not just water flowing down the outside. I used a hot glue gun, made a little round roof that fits over the hole but inside a pipe out of an old ice cream tub and raised it a bit on some plastic supports so water can still overflow down the pipe.

    Most importantly though check it is installed right way round, one way will trap water and divert it, the other way round won't. The level has been mentioned, it needs to be level or above the other connection so the water can flow downhill or it will clog with an airpocket.


  • erichyde47erichyde47 Posts: 1
    thank you mr tjforman wasnt going to install mine for that reason but yours is a very good solution 
  • ionamarie716d8uv-nkionamarie716d8uv-nk Posts: 1
    I have a Rainwater hub. This is the most amazing piece of kit I have ever bought. It collects most of the water that falls on my roof and then uses gravity to send it down my standard hose to my water butts 150ft down my garden! 
  • StephenSouthwestStephenSouthwest Posts: 635
    edited June 2021
    So - on the left of the picture the downpipe goes into a hopper, which has a grid in it to collect debris,
    ...then flows out the bottom and into the top of the water butt.
    ...it works very well
    ....you do need to have think about whether you then need an overflow at the top of the butt...


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