Chewie

Our UK garden is about 75x75m, which is a decent size, but not massive. About half to 3/4 of it is grass, which I hardly ever water, and haven’t this year even though we had a drought.

We have 5 IBCs, and several other randomly-sized water butts (~7000l total (1500gal UK, 1850gal US)), to keep our veggies and fruit bushes watered. We ran out this summer, and had to use about 500l of tap water until it rained again :(

Dry periods are likely to get worse in future, so I need to get more water storage. I also want to start using rain water to wash clothes (or at least fabrics we use for our pet rabbit houses), but I need a good filtering system first.

We have 2 IBCs stacked, and I was trying to use the top one to gravity-feed our downstairs toilet cistern for flushing and worked well, although it took 7 minutes for the cistern to fill, which isn’t great if you have to accommodate a lot of people. It is good enough for us though.

I could add a pump to speed up the process, but I’m trying not to add more cost and complications to the system unnecessarily.

I can fit 1 more IBC in somewhere - they don’t look pretty, but they are very practical. I normally transport them home on the top of my car on a roof-rack… and drive slowly! :)

It would be good to know which wifi controller and “alternative controller” you are planning to use. I’m after one, but so far, most of them I have seen need crappy apps. I want mine to use an open API etc.

You can also buy IBCs with galvanised sides, which is pretty cool. They can be £10-20 more expensive, but makes the whole thing more robust, in my opinion.

Eg: smithsofthedean.co.uk/…/ibc-tank-1000-litre-galva…

Ours have little holes drilled in the front side every 100l to expose the plastic tank underneath, so you can see the liquid level.

I would recommend this type so you don’t need a separate cover, which could get ripped etc.

… Also “often a waste”??? always a waste. People (myself included) need to get better at planning meals so there’s less food waste generally. I’m guilty of wasting food sometimes, and I get really cross with myself.

No, some things last for a long time, others don’t.

For example:

1. We bought 3 pallets of Almond milk (by mistake! I only wanted 1) at an auction a few years ago. It is all in 1L tetrapaks, and although it went out of date in August 2024, it is still good, and we use it every day.
2. Crisps - We have a pallet of Walkers cheese and onion crisps in “aluminium” (mylar?) bags bought at a similar time. They are still crunchy and taste fine. Some Morrisons own-brand dorito-type corn chips in normal plastic (with see-through section) bags which came in the same package, didn’t fare so well. They lasted less than a year after their BBE date.
3. Organic Seaweed sheets - these were also packed in “aluminium” (mylar?) bags too (with moisture inhibitor “pillows”. They lasted well past their BBE date, but don’t taste nice when eaten straight from the bag - maybe this is something to do with the oil that was used (and possibly the same reason as why the “doritos” didn’t last long)?
4. Beer - different types age differently. I don’t like beer, but I had loads of Fosters and Stella left over from a party. Both had similar BBE dates. After about a year past their BBE, the Fosters cans started frothing when opening (even though they weren’t shaken), and made my stomach feel a bit weird (I was trying to make shandies out of them as I can cope with that!). Stella Artois, on the other hand, was still fine at the same point, and for several months after.
5. Pepperami - I ate one that was 10 years out of date. It tasted fine, and I didn’t die, which was a bonus.

I don’t risk it it with meat so much, but you can usually tell as it changes colour obviously.

As I’m trying to eat less meat and more vegan alternatives, a lot of the alternatives to sausages and burgers etc. last a long time after their BBE. Recently one vegan burger had a bit of mold on it, so I scraped it off before cooking it and it tasted fine - I wouldn’t have done that with a meat version :/

It really annoys me when people throw stuff out the day after something goes out of date. Whatever it is won’t become immediately radioactive/poisonous, are they that stupid?? grrr

Nice site! I hope more sites join your webring!