You do need a strong stand for it. Before I bought the butt with the stand, I used to have one which I put onto an old wooden coffee table that had seen better days. It stood near the garage, which of course didn't house the car but was full up with assorted stuff. One day I filled it right up with the garden hose from the kitchen tap and went indoors, leaving the garage still wide open. A bit later I heard a loud crash. When I went out to see what had happened, I found the coffee table collapsed with a broken leg, the water butt on its side VERY near the open garage door with a large dent where the side meets the base, and all the water had shot into the garage. It is surprising just how much water a full water butt can hold - and how heavy that water is!
The dent hasn't come out so it doesn't stand straight any more and I wouldn't trust it to stay upright if full of water. The butt now stands against the wall in the garage, and has been demoted to a holder for rakes, hoes and so on.