Very interesting scenario here :-)

My daughter and son in law had a swampy bit in their garden, so they got the
digger in and dug a pond, about 80 ft. diameter. What they had was the
'supply' to the Village Pond, so when we have excess rain, the pond fills up
then overflows to the village pond. The Island in the middle is home to Duck
and Moorhen nests and chicks.

Mike




"Janet" wrote in message
t...

In article ,
says...

On Fri, 26 Jul 2013 12:17:59 +0100, Another John
wrote:

In article ,
Stephen Wolstenholme wrote:

It's years since I needed to store a lot of rainwater. After trying
water butts I decided to dig a pond. The house roof drainage was
redirected to keep the pond full. Water was taken from the pond as
needed from a constantly running waterfall pump.

Nice. How bigs the pond, please?

John

It was about 4000 litres.

What happened in winter to the overflow, when roof drainage continued
to fill the pond and you didn't need to water the garden?

Janet.

"Broadback" wrote ...

I have set up three rainwater butts, linked at the bottom. works quite well
but from time to time develops a leak in one joint or another. I have been
looking at larger storage tanks, but they seem ridiculously expensive. Any
suggestions?


Too late for you now but I just let the water overflow from one to the
other, each tank is set slightly lower than the first to allow for this and
the only "connections" that are below water level are the taps which they
all need. The first one collects most of the muck off the roof too leaving
the other quite clean. You need taps on all of them so you drain one first
(the dirty one so you can clean it out) and then go to the next.
--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK

On Fri, 26 Jul 2013 17:38:25 +0100, Bob Hobden wrote:

You need taps on all of them so you drain one first (the dirty one so
you can clean it out) and then go to the next.

And so that a leak doesn't drain them all...

Siphons failing if the water level gets to low can be mostly solved
by having the bottom ends of the inverted U just a couple of inches
above the bottom of each tank.

MBC's are good, large and relatively cheap but are translucent. Algae
will grow in them unless you cover 'em with something opaque.

I'm about to press a similar sized old galvanised water tank into
water butt service. Something that has been waiting for a tuit for
12 years... need to inspect it first to see what it's like inside the
outside is very good.

--
Cheers
Dave.

On Fri, 26 Jul 2013 16:22:59 +0100, Janet wrote:

In article ,
says...

On Fri, 26 Jul 2013 12:17:59 +0100, Another John
wrote:

In article ,
Stephen Wolstenholme wrote:

It's years since I needed to store a lot of rainwater. After trying
water butts I decided to dig a pond. The house roof drainage was
redirected to keep the pond full. Water was taken from the pond as
needed from a constantly running waterfall pump.

Nice. How bigs the pond, please?

John

It was about 4000 litres.

What happened in winter to the overflow, when roof drainage continued
to fill the pond and you didn't need to water the garden?

Janet.

The overflow ran into the main rain drain as the roof drainage once
did. Effectively the roof drainage was the same as ever with a pond
along the flow.

Steve

--
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SwingNN. Forecast with Neural Networks. http://www.swingnn.com
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On Friday 26 July 2013 13:54 Broadback wrote in uk.rec.gardening:

On 26/07/2013 12:28, Tim Watts wrote:
On Friday 26 July 2013 09:57 Broadback wrote in uk.rec.gardening:

I have set up three rainwater butts, linked at the bottom. works quite
well but from time to time develops a leak in one joint or another. I
have been looking at larger storage tanks, but they seem ridiculously
expensive. Any suggestions?

Make better joints.

What fittings and pipe are you using now?

The ones normally supplied with butts, using flexible piping.

Oh. That's your problem then.

I would look at either proper plumbing fittings (tank connectors) and some
plastic pipe (eg JG Speedfit or MDPE) between them. 22mm pipe will be
enough.

Or visit a Koi pond supply shop - they usually stock a wide range of tough
tank connectors and flexible pipe.

--
Tim Watts Personal Blog: http://squiddy.blog.dionic.net/

http://www.sensorly.com/ Crowd mapping of 2G/3G/4G mobile signal coverage

On 26/07/2013 18:00, Dave Liquorice wrote:
above the bottom of each tank.
There is a distinct advantage connecting them at the bottom. There is
effectively one large tank,as opposed to three smaller ones. This makes
if much easier to extract the water, either by a single tap of a
submersible pump in one tank.

On Sat, 27 Jul 2013 09:03:32 +0100, Broadback wrote:

above the bottom of each tank.

There is a distinct advantage connecting them at the bottom. There is
effectively one large tank,as opposed to three smaller ones. This makes
if much easier to extract the water, either by a single tap of a
submersible pump in one tank.

But a leak anywhere empties everything but the so would siphons with
the U ends near the bottoms. B-)

Think I'd go for the cascading overflow system and taps on each tank.
Only one hole to leak below the water line. Proper taps not the cheap
plastic tat that comes with or sold as "water butt taps". The current
butt has a 15 mm lever ball valve, female BSP one side screws
directly onto the tank connector, compression the other onto a bit of
pipe with an elbow. Easy to operate and reliable.

--
Cheers
Dave.

On Sat, 27 Jul 2013 10:21:51 +0100, Chris Hogg wrote:

... these are due to stress failures in the moulding of the butt with
the tap, around the tap-hole, because the taps are rather stiff and
cause the butt to flex slightly.

Yep, that's what caused failure here though it was the plastic tap
that gave up rather than the butt. That's why I have the ball valve,
very easy to operate so much less force transfered to the butt. Also
better flow.

--
Cheers
Dave.

On 26/07/13 09:57, Broadback wrote:

I have set up three rainwater butts, linked at the bottom. works quite
well but from time to time develops a leak in one joint or another. I
have been looking at larger storage tanks, but they seem ridiculously
expensive. Any suggestions?

Pre-loved orange-juice concentrate shipping containers - about 1,000
gallons, and can be had for peanuts.

I've seen them sold for as little as £20.(Got mine free...)

--
Rusty Hinge

On 26/07/13 17:38, Bob Hobden wrote:

Too late for you now but I just let the water overflow from one to the
other, each tank is set slightly lower than the first to allow for this
and the only "connections" that are below water level are the taps which
they all need. The first one collects most of the muck off the roof too
leaving the other quite clean. You need taps on all of them so you drain
one first (the dirty one so you can clean it out) and then go to the next.

That's how some of mine are connected. The downpipes are well below the
surface and one leg of a pair of tights is clamped round each. This
collects all the detritus, but requires servicing from time to time.

Don't ask where I get the tights...

--
Rusty Hinge