It stays up off the ground and the water stays clean.
Clean!
You can see the old water dishes to the right in the photo. Eew.
It took the birds less than a day to figure out how to bump the nipples to release the water. They love it and have turned it into a game. They often have wet beards now.
The ducks absolutely adore it.
How did we hang it up? I used a 7ft shepherds crook plant/feeder hanger with a long extension hook.
I thought it would be too tall, but the weight of the water pulls it down just enough and the birds figured it out very quickly. We'll probably add another little wire to the bottom. If we make a heavy wire triangle that connects at either side of the bucket handle, with the point up to hook on to the big hook, then the bucket won't tilt to the side.
Happy birds, happy people!