timber water butt

[michaelp]

hi
Planning to make a 1000+ liters water butt.
Could you please help a bit as I have not much of experience.
The structure will be roughly 1 meter cube.
Inside will be a pond liner to hold the water.
It will be standing on paving slabs.
What type and size timber should I use and how to join it as to withstand the water pressure of 1 tonne?
I can imagine that if I just glue and screw timber boards they would come apart under the water pressure from inside?
Should I use metal straps like those in toolstation? Perhaps 3 of them around the cube at bottom, middle and top?
https://www.toolstation.com/shop/Constr ... end/p82881

Any ideas much appreciated.
I can't just buy 1000l water tank because they are expensive and look ugly.

[Notch1]

Have you condidered getting an IBC container and clad that?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Water-Tank-10 ... SwvjdZTs-X

[Rorschach]

Buy a tank as above and clad/make a box to pretty it up.

Making a wooden container that will safely hold 1 tonne of water is no mean feat and as the wood rots over time it becomes a ticking time bomb as to when it would fail. It would also be a lot cheaper to go the route above. If the cladding rots, not a problem, easy to fix with no loss of water or structural danger.

[davyp1]

The metal straps mentioned above would not be suitable.

You could make the sides of your cube out of a good quality exterior plywood.
My thoughts are that it would have to be at least 25mm thick.
You could support/reinforce the corners by fixing a vertical 4x1 timber at either side of all four corners.
Then fit horizontal pieces of 4x1 timber between the vertical timbers at the top, bottom and middle.
At these three points you fit a strap clamp as detailed below:-

http://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-tr ... p-ax945780

While I feel the above would work, the wood may rot over time and could even prove dangerous
and a risk should it fail!

Wait a minute!
Perhaps scrap the above idea! With nothing to keep the sides from leaving the bottom it would fail straight away!
Notch's suggestion of buying an IBC container is the way to go!

davyp1

[michaelp]

Thank you for the answers.
I sort of expected that my idea is not great.
Used IBC is not an option as I will be using the water on veggies. Ebay sellers will tell you everything ("nice, clean, only used for water") just to make £30. I bought so many items of ebay which do not match description: dirty, damaged etc. I will not risk it.
A new IBC is to expensive £200 - £250 and it makes no sense because I could get 4 x wilkos 250l water butt for £120 delivered.


So... another idea - perhaps silly:

Dig a cube in the ground (pond?) 1m deep 1mx1m, line it with a thick pond liner. Rise the sides a few inches (timber) of the ground to stop dirt getting in. Cover the 'well' with something to prevent animals and myself falling in.
Taking water out will not be a problem - I have sub pump which works of 12v and pumps like mad up to 8m up and 50m flat.
What do you think? I am on a tight budget but have plenty of time to dig. My soil is heavy clay.

[davyp1]

So... another idea - perhaps silly:

Dig a cube in the ground (pond?) 1m deep 1mx1m, line it with a thick pond liner. Rise the sides a few inches (timber) of the ground to stop dirt getting in. Cover the 'well' with something to prevent animals and myself falling in.
Taking water out will not be a problem - I have sub pump which works of 12v and pumps like mad up to 8m up and 50m flat.
What do you think? I am on a tight budget but have plenty of time to dig. My soil is heavy clay.

No not a silly idea at all!

When I read your last post, I was reminded of my grandfathers garden which was rather big.
To save him carting water down to the bottom end he did dig himself a well.
Just a thought but you could do the same.
No need for waterproof liners and such as you have heavy clay; also a well requires surface water to fill it from by seepage from the surrounding area.
Grandfathers well consisted of a hole about 1m in diameter and about 2m deep.
It was lined with reclaimed bricks laid dry (no mortar) and at half bond laid radially around the circle.
The top was covered with a timber frame and an hinged lid with a locking bolt.
I remember my dad telling me that they only dug out the first 1m before lining that section with bricks. They then undermined the bottom layer of bricks by about 200mm and the weight of the bricks above forced the lining bricks down to the new bottom.
Apparently they repeated this part until the well was deep enough, stacking new bricks on the top course as the work proceeded.

You would need approx 350 reclaimed bricks for a well about 6ft deep.

davyp1

[Notch1]

Maybe consider a food IBC

http://www.dvcontainers.co.uk/category.asp?catID=3

There are suppliers that will have IBC and roto containers that have been used for transporting food not chemicals

Digging a hole is fine as long as you have somewhere to keep the spoil. If you need a skip, that will cost more than a new tank.

[ayjay]

Where will the water come from to fill the tank?

[michaelp]

I collect water from a roof of a semi and since my neighbors have clogged down pipes, all the water comes to me
Can also start collecting from a shed roof if needed.
I get 50 gallons in a few hours of rain. May be able to get 250 gallons in a day.

The idea with bricked well sounds great as it will be nearly free - there are always some skips near by, full of old bricks.

[ayjay]

I collect water from a roof of a semi and since my neighbors have clogged down pipes, all the water comes to me
Can also start collecting from a shed roof if needed.
I get 50 gallons in a few hours of rain. May be able to get 250 gallons in a day.

The idea with bricked well sounds great as it will be nearly free - there are always some skips near by, full of old bricks.

I didn't really think it would be from a tap, but if it was, then a hosepipe direct to the eventual destination would have been much simpler.

If you're running it from off of a roof, have you made provision for diverting that elsewhere when the tank/well is full?