hose for a watering can, and fill it from your water butt to get the benefit of softer water," says the Energy Saving Trust . Apart from doing your bit to conserve water, using them to capture and harvest rainwater can help to reduce your bill if you are on a water meter. And while this may not affect you, or save you money right now, it may well do so in the future. By 2015 Southern Water proposes to meter the majority of properties in its area, and South East Water by 2020 -- with other water companies looking to introduce meters for all domestic properties in the very long term. So for thousands of households, it will pay in the future to invest now in water-saving devices. You can buy a water butt from most garden centres and DIY stores and install it, relatively easily, next to the down pipe of your house, or any garden building that has a system of gutters, such as a shed, greenhouse, conservatory or outdoor office. B&Q's bestselling butt is the 100 litre Sankey Slim Space Saving Waterbutt in green at 24.98 in store or online. Instructions on how to install a butt can be found on the Energy Saving Trust website. If you have the space you can consider increasing your water storage capacity by connecting several butts together with a linking kit so that when one butt is full, the water will automatically flow into the next. If you are