Dear Sven,

I live in the south east of England where there is always a hosepipe ban. I am starting to garden and would like to save rainwater, however I have no rainwater down pipe on my property so cannot use a water butt and was wondering if you could let me know of a cheap alternative method for collecting water. The idea of collecting underground is very interesting to me as I have a large garden, but would not be able to afford the system of blocks mentioned in the UKTV Gardens article.

Thanks

Our Gardens Expert replies:

Hi there,

The problem you face is that to collect rain water effectively you need to do so over a large surface (such a roof) for it to be worthwhile. I have installed a system once before in garden where we collected water run off from a large patio. We angled the paving away from the house and installed a channel drain to collect the run off. This then drained to an underground storage tank. The water then could be pumped for use in the garden. If you have an existing patio - with any luck it should fall in a one direction - it is then quite easy to install a channel drain and tank to collect the rain water.

If you have shed in the garden you could always put guttering around it to collect the rain in a water butt. You could also use a waterproof sheet stretched over a large frame to collect water. This is obviously only feasible if you can hide it discreetly behind a large shed or some other building.

I assume that your property has a roof and the rainwater must go somewhere, so the best option if you have no water downpipe is to install one. This would be by far the cheapest option. I know many modern houses have hidden guttering, which maybe your problem, so I would suggest getting a builder to see if you can tap into it somehow and install a down pipe to a water butt.

Hope this helps,

Sven