WITH water charges imminent, savvy homeowners are rolling out the barrel or rain butt to capture the free water that this country is so famous for. These barrel-shaped devices are designed to capture rainwater for secondary home use, such as watering plants and gardens.

Like rainwater barrels of old they are affixed to the down pipe, come with a cover to prevent anything else contaminating the water, and have a tap at the bottom to access the trapped water.

Sales and enquiries are on the up since the announcement of water charges, says Eileen Quinn of Murphy and Wood Garden Centre, in Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin, which sells several styles. A 210-litre barrel costs €72.50 and comes with a diverter, tap and stand. The 100-litre option is better suited to apartment owners and others with limited outside space. It costs €40. Both are in a racing green only. Aesthetes who might like something a bit more pleasing on the eye should know that there is another butt that is more Ali Baba-olive oil jar in shape and terracotta in colour. But its good looks come with a premium. It has a capacity of 245 litres and costs €195.

All three options are made of a plastic that is not biodegradable, which would seem contrary to their supposed green thinking.

But Quinn, who has an old-fashioned wood water barrel in her own house, says they aren’t perfect either. “During summer, the heat makes the barrel’s wood staves contract and you lose water.”