# Quick question regarding water-butts...



## MontyVeda (14 Jun 2021)

Just installed a couple of water butts beside my mother's garage...







...do they need strapping to the wall?


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## Low Gear Guy (14 Jun 2021)

Ours has never been strapped down. Once full of water it won't be going anywhere.


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## fossyant (14 Jun 2021)

Nope. Still pretty heavy when partially empty.


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## MontyVeda (14 Jun 2021)

cheers chaps


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## T4tomo (14 Jun 2021)

as long as the paving they are standing on is solid and level (a marginal backward tilt even better) then as others have said, they will be rock solid.


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## MichaelW2 (14 Jun 2021)

Ensure that the centre of gravity of water is as low as possible.


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## BrumJim (14 Jun 2021)

Thought I would do a quick check to make sure that this isn't one of those hazards that we hadn't considered yet, but will be focus of a tabloid campaign to "Secure those Killer Water Butts".

Turns out that your biggest risks from a water butt are drowning (particularly if you are working on a ladder above one or are a small animal) and Legionnaire's disease, particularly if you pump the water out and use a garden hose. Nothing about toppling butts. Presumably because unlike tall shelving, you **have** to load them from the bottom first.


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## fossyant (14 Jun 2021)

I pump ours into the greenhouse on a timer !


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## Darius_Jedburgh (14 Jun 2021)

We have had those for many years. Never even thought about strapping them down. If the base is solid and level then the but will go nowhere. Even a few inches in the bottom will be heavy enough to hold it in place - think how heavy a bucket of water is.


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## Ming the Merciless (14 Jun 2021)

MichaelW2 said:


> Ensure that the centre of gravity of water is as low as possible.



Yep you don’t want water towers


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## Cycleops (14 Jun 2021)

That's not a water tank. THIS is a water storage tank :






And yes you can push it around all by yourself, okay better with help.
Due to inconsistent supplies we store water in one of these here.


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## annedonnelly (14 Jun 2021)

I have a brick in the base of mine just in case.

One of them is rigged up to divert water into the pond. The frogs would appreciate a bit of rain soon...


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## Alex H (14 Jun 2021)

As long as they don't freeze 

When we lived in France, I had to change the tank for the heating oil. I thought I could use the old one to store water from the barn roof. I made a base in the barn, connected it all up and it filled very quickly, all 1500 litres.

This is the new oil tank and the base for the old one





A couple of years pass and we have a very cold winter.

I am outside when i hear a loud bang in the barn. I go and have a look and see this.






A 1500kg ice cube has decided to fall over and smash most of our garden furniture. The base of the tank curved as the water froze. It took about 2 weeks to thaw and drain away. Surprisingly there was only a tiny crack near the top, so I moved it outside, buried about a third, so it would not fall over again. (I seem to remember the temperature tha previous night was something like -15 deg C)


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## MontyVeda (14 Jun 2021)

Darius_Jedburgh said:


> We have had those for many years. *Never even thought about strapping them down*. If the base is solid and level then the but will go nowhere. Even a few inches in the bottom will be heavy enough to hold it in place - think how heavy a bucket of water is.


Neither had I, until a YT video randomly popped up about securing them to the wall and I thought... is that really necessary? 

It's always best to ask a cyclist.


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## BrumJim (14 Jun 2021)

Alex H said:


> As long as they don't freeze
> 
> When we lived in France, I had to change the tank for the heating oil. I thought I could use the old one to store water from the barn roof. I made a base in the barn, connected it all up and it filled very quickly, all 1500 litres.
> 
> ...



Missed the bikes. What's the problem?


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## T4tomo (14 Jun 2021)

BrumJim said:


> Missed the bikes. What's the problem?


Couldn't agree more!
Furniture looked like it needed a refresh anyway.
In addition, thinking would could move it with that orange sack barrow was a little naive!


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## markemark (14 Jun 2021)

MontyVeda said:


> Just installed a couple of water butts beside my mother's garage...
> 
> View attachment 593797
> 
> ...


Hard to tell from the photo but the feed pipe join on the down pipe should be no higher than the rim of the butt else it’ll overflow.


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## MontyVeda (14 Jun 2021)

markemark said:


> Hard to tell from the photo but the feed pipe join on the down pipe should be no higher than the rim of the butt else it’ll overflow.


the feed pipe is exactly level with the feed into the butt.


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## postman (14 Jun 2021)

Ours is on bricks


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## Drago (14 Jun 2021)

Mine is trapped to the wall with a length of French army 9 tonne towing strop (about all the French army are good for).


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## TheDoctor (14 Jun 2021)

Drago said:


> Mine is trapped to the wall with a length of French army 9 tonne towing strop (*about all the French army are good for*).


Is that in any way related to the old joke about the difference between the French, and toast?


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