With a hosepipe ban in full force and draconian drought orders threatened, Lewisham Council is coming to the rescue of the borough's parched and wilting gardens.
Lewisham residents are being invited to take part in an online competition to win one of 200 water butts - used for capturing and storing rainwater for use in the garden.
Cllr Heidi Alexander, Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for the Environment, said: 'Water butts are really handy in droughts, allowing people to collect rainwater during showers and use it in dryer spells. Also, using a water butt throughout the year is a great way of reducing your household water consumption.'
The first 200 residents to successfully complete the council's online water consumption quiz will become the proud owner of their very own water butt.
To access the competition residents must visit http://lewisham.gov.uk/environment
A water butt is a large, usually plastic but sometimes terracotta, tub or barrel that collects water in your garden from a drain or roof.
Green fingered residents will be interested to know that using rainwater collected in a water butt is better for the garden than mains water from a hose.
An ICM poll, which questioned 1,036 people in early August, found that more than three million residents of the drought-hit South East - almost a third of householders - are breaching the hosepipe ban.
The water butts up for grabs, which are made out of recycled plastic, can hold up to 190 litres of rain water, are 650mm wide, measure 960mm in height and need to be attached to a drain pipe.