The watering systems don't cost any more than the bottles you would need to replace them, unless your getting your bottles really cheap somewhere. And if your that worried about leaks, just pull the valves and clean them once a month, or use purified water. Been using the same valves for 3 yrs now, never had an issue so far except when an escapee chewed through a line. You can also use a smaller reservoir, mine holds 4 gallons and will keep 6 tubs watered for 2 weeks, so a 1 or 2 gallon would cut the spill issues.