Water Butts overflowing

Bobby Boy

Does anyone have a solution to prevent water butts overflowing?

robmar

Are you filling with a downpipe diverter?   These can (usually?) have an overflow back into the downpipe.

Bobby Boy

robmar,
Yes I have two different types of downpipe diverter but neither of them seem to have the ability to direct water back to the downpipe.
I had considered drilling another hole in the butt and installing a diverter upside down in the downpipe to return excess water.

Lyn

We have those,  we just pull the pipe off the butt and tie it upwards to the drain pipe,  water just flows down the drain. 

robmar

The first two I found on the B&Q website (claim to) have this feature, e.g. Spudulica Water Butt Rain Diverter Kit For Square 65mm & Round 68mm Pipe - Save downpipe Water for your use | DIY at B&Q
Whether this works in practice... 

Your solution sounds reasonable (assuming you're happy to drill multiple holes in your downpipe), but whether the overflow is more likely to get clogged up with debris...?

wild edges

Do you use the water over the winter? I tend to fix a hose to the tap, set it to a very slow trickle and direct the end of the hose to the drain. I've got lots of water stored elsewhere so the butts attached to drainpipes can just help with flood management by slowing the flow of water down.

steephill

Check that the diverters are set at the right level, even if it was originally OK there may have been a change in levels through settlement. Also check that the diverters aren't blocked with leaves and other gutter debris. I have to check mine a couple of times a year.

Fire

@steephill I have sent you a personal message.

Palustris

Ours did this as I had put the diverters at the wrong height, being too high. Solution was to stand the water butts on paving slabs to raise them up to the correct height.

nick615

In addition to the normal taps at the bottom, we've installed exit fittings @ about 6 inches below the 'full' marks, linked to about 40 yards of cheap hose that take surplus water off on to the garden and away.  Thus we have water to draw on, but none we don't want.

Bobby Boy

Hmmm!

Thank you for all of your answers, lots to think about.

Robmar, the diverters I have are similar, though not the same, as those on the B&Q website.

Steephill and Palustris, I shall have a closer look at the levels and make sure that the connecting pipes are as near horizontal as possible, currently they are sloping down slightly toward the butt. I have four waterbutts and they were here when we moved into this house. The one on the patio must have been leaking for some time as there is a lot of green slimy stuff below and around the stand.

Fire, I haven’t received your message, I don’t know where to look for it.

Nick615 and Wild Edges, I live in Devon where it has been raining almost constantly over the past few weeks and I don't think that opening the taps to a trickle will be the answer but thanks for the thought.