Forum home› Fruit & veg
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

Butt Water

smelonssmelons Posts: 6
in Fruit & veg
Hello, I'm new here! Apologies for the rather crude-sounding subject, but I have a question about using water from a butt on salad leaves. I recently had a dodgy stomach and wasn't sure what might have caused it. I wondered if one of the possibilities was my homegrown lettuce. I've been watering it using the butt water and as it is impossible to water it without also dousing the leaves, I wondered if this could pose a problem. Obviously I'm washing it before consumption...
«1

Posts

  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    Welcome to the forum. 
    Don't apologise for the thread title, it made me laugh.
    Unless there's something really nasty in your butt ( snigger snigger ) like a dead bird or something, I can't see it being the problem . You'd smell something nasty. My guess is it's just a coincidence. 
    Devon.
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    It's an eye-catching title :)
    I agree with Hosta.
    I water my lettuce with rainwater and seaweed extract too now and then I can't recall feeling unwell after eating it and I only tend to wash the outer leaves unless I find a slug in the middle

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • smelonssmelons Posts: 6
    Thank you both! I'll give it another go. I must admit, I haven't sniffed my butt to see if it smells unpleasant.  :p I'm going to have some rocket for lunch now. 
  • stevek_bathstevek_bath Posts: 51
    I acquired a couple of second hand water butts that weren't overly pleasant inside. After a good clean out as they refilled in the recent rains I added an envii organic water butt cleaning tablet. Might give some peace of mind if you're worried the water has been sitting around / might have something nasty in it. 

    Generally though rainwater is a pretty safe bet unless it stands for an extremely long time or something else gets into it and dies/rots....
  • smelonssmelons Posts: 6
    stevek_bath said:
    I acquired a couple of second hand water butts that weren't overly pleasant inside. After a good clean out as they refilled in the recent rains I added an envii organic water butt cleaning tablet. Might give some peace of mind if you're worried the water has been sitting around / might have something nasty in it. 

    Generally though rainwater is a pretty safe bet unless it stands for an extremely long time or something else gets into it and dies/rots....
    That's a good idea, thanks. Mine was second hand too, but I never thought to clean it out thoroughly, I just rinsed it out with water. :/  There are slugs and leaves in mine mostly.
  • GemmaJFGemmaJF Posts: 2,286
    I water my veg with tap water. Not ideal, but if butt water stands, it can be a bit unpleasant. I save it for flowers and the compost heap.


  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    smelons said:
    Thank you both!  I must admit, I haven't sniffed my butt to see if it smells unpleasant.  
    That's a trick if you can manage it?  o:)
    Devon.
  • smelonssmelons Posts: 6
    GemmaJF said:
    I water my veg with tap water. Not ideal, but if butt water stands, it can be a bit unpleasant. I save it for flowers and the compost heap.


    I do sometimes use the hose, but the greenhouse is at the top of the garden with the butt next to it, so I tend to go for the easiest option. I might start using tap on the salad leaves and butt water on the other veggies.
  • smelonssmelons Posts: 6
    Hostafan1 said:
    smelons said:
    Thank you both!  I must admit, I haven't sniffed my butt to see if it smells unpleasant.  
    That's a trick if you can manage it?  o:)
    If only I was that flexible!
  • SkandiSkandi Posts: 1,723
    I never worried about it until I started growing veg, and where I am I am not allowed to use any water that isn't drinking quality on fruit or vegetables that are normally eaten raw. So I might give watering lettuce with water that's been standing around a miss. unless you can do it with drip tape or something similar.
Sign In or Register to comment.