For those in Binstead that get a knock at the door by people in orange coats, it’s not cold calling it’s reps from Southern Water offering you a free water butt. It’s all part of the multi-agency co-ordinated flood mitigation approach that is now moving forward in earnest, with the Isle of Wight Council, Southern Water and the Environment Agency all involved. The water butts on offer are the start of a rollout of measures in 2024 that will also include highway verges being turned into rain storage, individual property flood resilience measures such as flood boards and more resilient doors plus an innovative de-paving scheme. The local ward member, Councillor Ian Dore, HAS said:
“There are many elements to flood prevention in Binstead and this is just one of them. “The water butt scheme was trialled recently, and the results are stunning. By bagging yourself a free water butt, you are saving 200 litres from hitting the surfaces in a heavy down pour. That in turn keeps it from going into the drainage system which, if the conditions are poor, can get overloaded. “I will expand on the other elements of the scheme at a later date, but the teams are out on the ground as we speak. It’s colossal. At the time of writing, 110 homes have already taken up this offer so that’s 22,000 litres of water that won’t go into the system!
“One of the major risks is drainage system overload. With heavy rain and high tides, that risk increases. If water can be held back via these slow-release systems, it will make a huge difference.
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“I am hoping that as many in the community, will play their part in supporting others and accept the water butts that are offered. Along with the other elements that are coming, these big ole butts will play a massive part in the overall flood mitigation scheme. “You’ve seen the pictures, you’ve seen the videos, maybe experienced the horrors yourself. Please please please, help your neighbour, help those that live down the hill, across the road, or round the way. “When you get the letter or the knock at the door, please say YES. In doing so, you of course get a free water butt but most importantly it will help prevent other members of our community from being flooded. This is one of the elements that we can all work together on, so please, take up that butt!”
Yes these will be a great help when you’re home is flooded…… again.
Once the water butt if full, which will take around ten to fifteen minutes in a downpour then ALL the rainfall will go into the drain as before FOR THE REST OF WINTER. As unlikely the water butt will be used in Winter for watering plants.
And most people won’t empty them on dry days to ease drainage issues on the next deluges.
PR stunt.
Absolutely agree with you Balderdash.
This is not the fix that they claim, by any stretch.
the cynical side of me thinks not only is it a PR stunt but that SW are somehow able to claim some sort of tax relief on all these water butts
The water butt’s are slow release. No need to empty them.
So likely faulty leaky returns, so when people need them in the Summer they will be driza bone, so just an ugly ornament doing next to no good as filled within minutes then all the extra water will flood the drains still.
Stop building so many houses and roads that then are needed so the earth can soak away water naturally as it should and stop allowing millions of non British to live here as clearly our infrastructure can’t cope with what we already have.
Wrong wrong wrong. These are slow release water butts, which if you bothered to actually read the article you would know. Its really very simple. In the event of heavy rain, instead of pouring off residents rooves and onto the drives, pavements and roads. Lots of it stores in the water butt. Therefore the actual volume hitting the oft broken sewer is reduced. Is it a silver bullet? No of course not but if every house takes one then its a massive improvement and will help. Its clear that the system is over whelmed, these will reduce that.
FAR better to fit huge storage tanks in every new build home to ease water bills if pumped to WC’s. BUT that would mean people paying less on their water bills, so they just set up some stupid gimmick like this instead.
Jog on water co and keep your leaky butts away from me.
and they think that’s going to stop the flooding, embarrassing
FREE WATER BUTT nothing is free it just comes from the billions that they have made from us by over charging us so don’t worry you have paid for them
what are they going to do with them – use them as over sized bailers.
what next, giving the residents of iceland a hand held fire extinguisher to put out the volcano.
I fail to see how a few water butts will prevent flooding, yes I get that they catch and hold water, but come on this is insulting, and just a way to make people less angry that they were affected by the floods. BUILD BETTER DEFENSES, and DON’T BUILD ON FLOOD PLAINS OR GREEN FIELDS. The more houses you build the less drainage there is and the existing drain get even more congested.
Great to hear, will the offer be island wide ????
The best use would be to get inside it with a paddle the next time it floods….
This is a great idea, proven to work. In built up areas most of the run off comes from roofs, unsurprisingly. Delaying that run off great increases the capacity of the existing drainage system to cope.
Exactly that @Dangermouse. The supporting evidence is there in the public domain and has been shared with all residents. One of problems is the drainage system cannot handle excessive water volumes. Hold as much back as possible using butts and the other things that are mentioned in the piece and its a game changer. Its just easier for trolls and fist wavers to gob off.
If you’ve ever had a water butt, you’ll know that it can fill in 15 – 30 minutes from all the rain which falls on a house roof.
After it’s full, any more water simply goes down the drain as usual.
And the floods occur after several days of heavy rain, 15 – 30 minutes worth of heavy rain to fill a water butt is nothing.
Water butts are great for watering the garden in the summer, but as a method for stopping floods, well, the idea is simply absurd.
You have corrected your own misconception without realising it. The butts are slow release so they will be empty before a downpour. If a major downpour occurs, the butt fills and slow release still occurs. Consequently, the rainwater enters the drains slowly, which prevents them from being overwhelmed and reduces the likelihood of flooding.
Wow Water butts that will stop that mean ol flooding and you can use that water in that to water your flooded garden. Great thoughts.
When they introduced this scheme they said East Cowes would get these first. We live at the highest point of East Cowes where the water drains down from. No attempt has been made to instal any of these in the Beatrice road area. I think this is either a PR scheme or worse still a fraudulent act of reappropriating money. Similar to the wheelie bin debacle where supposedly thousands of bins went missing and not one question was asked.
I’d be more impressed if this was backed up by an expert, e.g. a civil engineer, rather than a councillor who’s excited about numbers he really does not understand. 22 000 litres is not a lot of water, and would only be collected if all the water butts were empty. How much water in total falls on the catchment area that causes the floods in a downpour I wonder? The only answer is to improve the drains.
Google ‘Binstead S19 Flood Report’. Thats where the analysis comes from. This was shared with Binstead residents last year! You really haven’t read the article either have you? It clearly states that so far 110 houses have taken up the offer which is way the figure comes from.According to the southern water people, its something like 800 houses that are being offered it! So the figure then soon jumps to 160,000 litres of water, being kept away from the crappy old drainage. Its not a silver bullet but a mighty impressive delaying tactics thats costing us residents nothing. Plus we have been told that they are digging in some soak away things to take more of the water, helping to prevent the destruction we’ve had.
Only going on the headline numbers published. 22 000 litres or 22 cubic m isn’t a lot. It would be helpful to know the total volume falling on the catchment to judge whether 22 000 or 160 000 litres is significant. If it is, then this is good news.
You can use is as a boat ( your personal ARK) when the area floods again .. not much better than a useless .. solution..
Once again our council show just how thick they are.
should be shows not show
Had the ‘yes I want one’ label stuck on the front door since last summer!! When are they coming?!!
Don’t think that’ll do much to prevent flooding. My water butt has been full to the brim and overflowing for months. Best thing to do is stop building any more houses.