Water butts & stagnant water
Last post 06-07-2009 6:47 AM by Nigel. 40 replies.
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20/08/2006 12:48 PM
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- Lesley W
- 20 Aug 2006
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6
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Hi everybody, I am new to this site and could really do with some advise. I have two water butts that are working very well but there is just one problem - after a couple of days the water in the butts seems to stagnate and starts to smell. I would be very grateful if anybody has any ideas on of to sort this out please as it's getting that bad I don't want to use the water. I look forward to any replies.
Regards
Lesley W
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20/08/2006 01:48 PM
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- Digger
- Northern UK
- 18 Jul 2005
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4,743
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Hi lesley w welcome to the board. Are the water butts you have covered or are they open topped debris can enter quite easily if the butts are open but leaves etc can make their way into the butts via the guttering on your house. If the water becomes smelly i would not advise you to use it and definately don't use it for seedlings. You can purchase a particle filter for adding to your downspout this will stop things entering and contaminating your supply if the butts are open i would cover them and feed the water pipe straight into the top via a hole this will stop any accidental additions to the water bird muck can quickly spoil the water. hope this helps bye for now my friend.
digger 
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20/08/2006 02:00 PM
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- Lesley W
- 20 Aug 2006
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6
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Hi Digger, thanks for replying. Both the butts are covered & we have put a plastic mesh on the gutters to stop leaves, etc, from entering the butts. After reading your reply it looks like it could be bird muck causing the problem, but would a partical filter stop the muck as it would "liquify" in the rain? I really don't know what to do. It looks like I will have to empty both butts and discard the water - could I tip it on the large horse chestnut in my garden & the VERY LARGE sycamore in next doors garden (right on our boundery) without any problems? What to you think Digger? This site is really good - you crop up all over the place as well ha ha (with very good advise I may add).
Regards
Lesley
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20/08/2006 02:41 PM
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- miranda
- Oxfordshire
- 17 Nov 2004
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2,976
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Hello Lesley,
I've read that a layer of charcoal in the butt is supposed to be a good filter, but haven't tried it myself. I think it may have been Bob Flowerdew that said it. Charcoal is certainly used with success in other water (and air) filters, so it should be worth a go.
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20/08/2006 04:56 PM
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- Lesley W
- 20 Aug 2006
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6
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Hi Miranda,
I think that sounds good - I shall have to go & get some charcoal & give it a go, I'll let you know how I get on.
Regards
Lesley
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27/08/2006 11:41 AM
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- Spadger
- 27 Aug 2006
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3
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Lesley
I'm having the same problem, so would be really intersted to know how you get on with the charcoal. I've got two butts fed from the roof of my house which work perfectly. But a third one, fed from the greenhouse and shed roofs, starts smelling within a few days. I've put traps on the downpipes and have emptied it, cleaned it thoroughly and even tried using water freshener weekly, but it hasn't stopped the problem. The only difference between them is the design of the lids. The problem one has a childproof lid, with small slits to release the catches. These must let in air and I wondered if this is the problem.
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27/08/2006 12:26 PM
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- Digger
- Northern UK
- 18 Jul 2005
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4,743
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Spadger my friend the water from the greenhouse roof could contain algae spores etc because glass on a greenhouse is notorious for growing algae between the panes and some of this will arrive in the water butt when it rains.
digger
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28/08/2006 12:03 PM
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- Spadger
- 27 Aug 2006
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3
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Digger
Thanks for the advice, I'll try removing the feed from the greenhouse and see if it does any good. Have my doubts though, 'cos this butt only takes water from one side of the greenhouse. The other side just feeds into an open barrel and the water in there is fine.
Spadger
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29/08/2006 12:08 PM
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You can also use potassium permanganate - which should be available from good chemists. Or there are a couple of wtaer purification products (such as Refresh) which are available from garden centres.
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30/08/2006 11:23 AM
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- Spadger
- 27 Aug 2006
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3
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I've tries using Refresh, but it didn't make any difference. Haven't tried potassium permangante though. Next steps perhaps. Thanks.
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04/09/2006 03:20 PM
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Plants, lacking noses, don't really care what water smells like and smelly water does them no harm.
It is myth that harmful organisms lurk in water butt water, except for damping off organisms. Use tap water for seedlings.
Gardeners might as well use up their water as fast as possible. Soils are still dry and there are few weeks growing weather so you might as well use the water as fast as possible.
You can give the butt a good clean when you have used all the drink.
Autumn rains will soon set in and refill the butt. Likely the winter rain will fill the butt many times over washing out pollutants reducng the pong situation.
Beware the bat-eared bogweevil
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19/09/2006 09:45 PM
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- Lesley W
- 20 Aug 2006
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6
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Hi Spadger
Sorry for the delay in replying - my PC went haywire..!! Both of the butts I have also have childproof lids, they sound the same as yours. The funny thing is though that the one at the front of the house doesn't smell while the one at the back does. I removed the lid & it was full of mosquitoes (spelling?) & their larva - I got bitten a lot, the little devils. Anyway, I have left the lid off & the smell seems to be going (the mozzies aren't though), there are no mozzies in the front butt. I tried the charcoal for a couple of weeks, didn't do much good and it kept escaping from the weighted down mesh bag so I gave that up. I am still using the water & my plants seem to be doing okay - they haven't keeled over anyway, ha ha.
If I can find anything else that works I'll let you know.
Regards
Lesley
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20/09/2006 09:28 AM
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- sue1002
- Ipswich, Suffolk
- 06 Sep 2005
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5,200
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Hi Lesley, I've had the same problem with mozzies and gnats breeding in the water butts. I blocked off all the holes to cut off the air supply and gave a good spray inside with fly spray, it worked for a while but they are now back. My dad told me to put some cooking oil inside, it creates a film on top of the water and starves the larvae of oxygen so they can't hatch - so far it seems to be working.
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06/10/2006 04:26 PM
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- Digger
- Northern UK
- 18 Jul 2005
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4,743
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We are having an under ground water tank put in the horse field, it sounds fancy but really its just a big alkethene? tank that will collect rain water we have not told the water board about it but there are no drains on the land so it's not pinching. I do not know what the quality of the water will be like maybe it won't be good enough for the horses to drink and if so it will be used for irrigation of crops, to get water out we are having an old fashioned hand pump (like on cowboy films) the tank can hold 1000 gallons (i think) and we bought it 2nd hand from a farmer and he is going to dig it in for us and the field will have two inlets for filling up(land drains) and an overflow that will take the excess to the beck, but right at this moment we are awash with water the lottie is very wet in places it is like a rice field! but we thouhght of the tank idea in case we get a water restriction although if a hosepipe ban is in force you can still use a hosepipe to fill vessels for livestock,so why do we need a water tank? because OH has got a field in the back of beyond miles away from a water supply(it's cheaper) and we sometimes get deer in the field which is nice to look at and they just eat bits of things not too important but vet says because of deer we need fancy (expensive) vaccination for horses, got to believe him really but well you know profits have to be made etc.. any way i have waffled on again. c u all soon.
digger
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14/10/2006 09:05 PM
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- STUMPY
- 14 Oct 2006
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I WOLD EMPTY THE WATER BUTS AND CLEAN THEM THEN START AGIAN
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