Stylish solution to rain harvesting

Last year was the UK's warmest year on record, and predictions from the Meteorological Office and University of East Anglia say that summer 2007 will be even hotter.

Only last month, home improvement and garden retail chain B&Q stated that sales of their water butts had more than tripled in comparison to the same period last year and predicted that if sales continued at the same rate demand would far outstrip supply.

To combat potential hospeipe bans and drought warnings throughout the UK, Preston based rotational moulding specialists, Polytank offer a stylish solution to rain harvesting in the form of their PolyButt.

With over 30 years experiene in manufacturing and designing water storage tanks, the PolyButt has been constructed with stregnth and practicallity in mind, and has also been designed to be a garden feature in itself – not something to be hidden behind a trellis or shed. Standing 980mm without stand, or 1330mm with stand, the PolyButt has a gentle wood grain finish and barrel type strapping to recreate the look of a hand-crafted, wooden water barrel of the past. Available in 5 different colours; terracotta, oak, pine, green and black, with the black further meeting the demands of environmentally aware purchasers as it is made entirely from re-cycled polymers.

With a 220 litre capacity (48 gallons), The PolyButt is made from UV stabilised polythene that does not degrade with sunlight and will not show the weakening and cracking that other polythene water butts have after a few summers. Polytank states that this new water butt will retain its strength throughout a 10 or 15 year working life.

The PolyButt lid adds to the butt’s attractiveness as it is designed to take the weight of a potted plant, so gardeners can immediately blend the PolyButt into a surrounding planting scheme. The lid is also manufactured from UV stabilised polyethylene so there is no chance of it deforming, even if a decorative pot is added to the top. The lid is secured with 4 – 8mm Arrow Clips, so it cannot be removed without gentle prising, which guards against children getting inside the butt. The top side of the PolyButt is pre-drilled, so that the rain saver supplied can be easily fitted. The side that is not used is sealed with a watertight rubber bung.

The PolyButt is delivered fully assembled with lid and tap and also comes complete with matching stand and Rain Saver.

The stand is a ‘kissing rib’ construction, designed to withstand around 400 litres of water (almost twice the tank’s actual capacity) by transferring the down force exerted by the weight of stored water across the width of the stand to be spread around the perimeter. The stand is also made of UV stabilised polyethylene that will not buckle under the weight of water or through extreme hot weather. The stand is available in a matching colour range to the PolyButt.

The supplied Rain Saver is a neat device that fits onto your down pipe and connects into your water butt and is suitable for 68mm round and 65mm square plastic down pipes.

For further information, visit polytank.co.uk.