News / water butts
Extremely dry weather.
It has been very dry for weeks. The photo below shows gauges in the river. Typically the water is at the 2nd post. In flood it can be well past where the photo was taken. It's dry all over Britain. Just today the news said Scotland has had the driest start to the year since 1964. Who knows, the weather might change to constant downpours, but if it remains drier than average there could be summer hosepipe bans. If this happens, there is usually a surge of orders for water butts. To avoid the queues for delivery you could order now, to get your water butt kit ready and collect any rain that falls. Various sizes and types are available in the water butt section.
Dry start to 2025 = water butts
July 2023 was hot, the grass turned yellow. This followed on from the super hot day in August 2022, that broke records. People thought it was going to be a good summer, then July began...
An introduction to water butts
Large green 350 litre water butts now available again
Wall Mounted Water Butt
Hosepipe Ban - Kent & Sussex
WOW! A hosepipe ban has just been announced for Kent and Sussex. I can never recall a hosepipe ban so early in the summer, but then we have just had net migration of 1 million people in just the last 2 years. I worked it out that based on 150 litres average daily use per person (OFWAT) that is a yearly increase in demand equivalent to the UK's 9th largest reservoir. Do you think the water companies have built such a reservoir in the last 24 months? Of course not, so it just means the reservoirs we do have will be emptying faster. Strangely, no-one even considers this huge impact, people might mention traffic, GP waiting times, school class sizes etc, but not water.
So, if you want to water your garden order a water butt here!
New colours for water butts
As well as green, the 168 litres and 227 litres water butts can now be ordered in grey plastic. The 100 litres barrels can now be ordered in green or black.
Raindrops DON'T keep falling on my head
I was just thinking earlier that it doesn't seem to have rained that much this winter, and also there seems to be a lot less wind. Where I live in Northumberland, It's always breezy (or gale force!), a still day is a rarity in autumn and winter. However, unless I am just imagining it, there seems to have been a lot of very still days and nights. No windy sounds over the roof at night.
Although, further north than the rest of England, it doesn't rain that much, like Cumbria to the west. The summer drought map showed the eastern half of the country was yellow regardless of whether it was north or south, and the west was greener. However, there is still plenty of wet days in winter, but this year it doesn't seem to have rained much.
I just did a search in the news section, and there is a report from Norfolk, stating that, there might be hosepipe restrictions this summer, if it doesn't rain more soon. North Norfolk News 9th Feb 2023 - 'Data on the water authority's website shows reservoir storage is below target for this time of year, being 80.6pc full, and groundwater sources are said to be ‘below normal’.'
Last summer it went crazy with orders, when the govt announced a drought in parts of the country. After just a few days I had to stop selling for weeks (unfortunately), as the manufacturer was trying to keep up with making new ones, and these are not eggcups, they are big and bulky, and take time to move about warehouses, and the country. So, if you are considering getting water butts this year, my top tip is to order now or early spring, when it is a lot quieter, rather than wait until the grass is brown, the news is talking about hosepipe bans, and there is a big wait for delivery slots.
