I decided to make WATER a subject of an article after reading the Daily Telegraph newspaper’s diatribe on the economic health and future of Thames water; and by inference most other water companies which no longer belong in our national control, being owned by every Tom, Dick & Harry throughout the world, from Canada, France, Dubai, some Scandinavian countries, and even China. No wonder we have rivers running with effluent, when profits are being hived off as dividends to shareholders and pension funds all over the globe.
The main point of this article is WATER BUTTS, to save the environment, save your wallet and save water – what’s not to love? Water butts come in all shapes and sizes, and are available cheaply from Shropshire Council on application. It’s a rare garden that will be unable to accommodate one; even a small shed roof can provide enough water for a small butt.
And why stop at one? If you are warm to this idea, place a second alongside the first, and the run-off from one overflows into the second. Diverter kits and linking kits are available at most big-brand hardware outlets and are fairly easy to install. One point – locate the water butt(s), elevated on bricks and slabs to ensure your watering cans fit under the opened tap.
Water comes from the heavens gratis. We turn on our taps and out it comes, and whilst the rain still falls, what’s the problem? Are you aware that as soon as the rain hits your roof and flows down the spouting, this free gift acquires the first of its several pricing charges and becomes a commodity, and a highly priced one, considering the base material is free? Your water company charges you for collecting ‘ground water’ to channel it into a system to make safe drinking water. And if you water plants from a kitchen or garden tap, you are using the highest priced water of all, and plus VAT. The expert view is that something like a 40% increase in water charges is on the cards if we want our rivers cleaned up.
To make your investment really work, have several buckets available. When rain is forecast, drain the stored water into the buckets leaving the water butt to be refilled by the rain, thus always making greatest and extended use of the availability of cheap water. I always have a trug near my water butt to catch any surplus water and use that to immerse my used pots ready for cleaning with the old plastic bristle washing up brush I keep for the purpose. Even that used water goes on the garden. Let your pots dry and store ready for the next use. I do not understand this concept of recycling pots to garden centres. I never seem to have enough, and never recycle them unless they are totally worn out. Please forgive this expression of personal whimsy, but in the future water will become a very precious commodity, not just on price but also for availability. In some parts of the world, water may become more expensive than oil, and fought over in small wars. So, what has this to do with gardening? Dear Reader, water is everything.