Best Water Butts UK 2026: Choosing by Size & Type
The water butt is the half of ban-proof watering everyone underestimates. With nine hosepipe bans in force, stored rainwater is what keeps a drip line legal — and the right butt is chosen on capacity and outlet height, not brand.
Planning the work? Check what it usually costs, or work out your own estimate. The free quote form is at the top of this page.
How to choose
Some links on this page may earn BestBuilders a commission at no cost to you. It never changes what we recommend — every range here is the same published pricing our cost guides use.
| Type | Best for | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Standard 100–210L | Most gardens; can-filling | The default; pair with a stand for tap clearance |
| Slimline / wall | Narrow side returns, small patios | Less capacity — link two if feeding drip |
| Large 300L+ | Vegetable beds, drip irrigation | One winter of rain fills it; site it on the biggest downpipe |
| Underground tank | New landscaping projects | A landscaping job, not a purchase — price it with the works |
Specialist ranges and current prices: Water Butts Direct carries the widest UK selection, including linked and slimline setups.
From butt to ban-proof system
A butt on its own waters by can. Add a drip line — gravity-fed from a raised butt or driven by a small butt pump — and the garden waters itself legally through any ban. The full setup is on the ban-proof watering guide; installed drip pricing (£500–£1,400 for most gardens) is on the irrigation cost guide.
Water butt FAQs
Work from your beds, not your roof: a couple of containers and a small border are fine from 100L; a family garden with vegetable beds wants 200L+; and serious drip irrigation is happiest with two butts linked, so one refills while the other feeds the line.
Yes — that is the ban-proof setup. Drip irrigation fed from stored rainwater is exempt under the standard Temporary Use Ban framework, unlike the same line plumbed to a mains tap.
For can-filling, yes — you need clearance under the tap. For a pump-fed drip line, less so, but height still helps a gravity-fed run. Most butts sell the stand separately; count it in.
A sealed lid (also safer with children), a rinse-out each winter, and using the water rather than storing it for months. First-flush diverters keep the worst roof debris out.
Sources & methodology
Price ranges are the published installer and retail pricing used across our gardening guides; BestBuilders does not yet hold enough quote history in this category to publish averages of its own. Hosepipe-ban rules follow the standard Temporary Use Ban framework — confirm against your own water company's exemption list.