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Stagnant water spilled on garden - HELP!

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  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    A drenching from 6 day old water would cause no problem to shrubs trees or grass. 
    As @Buttercupdays says - water has to hang around for a lot longer than that to be offensive in it's smell, and I also have left water in buckets for a lot longer than a week.   
    It wouldn't be harmful either. If it was, I wouldn't chuck it on borders.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • philippasmith2philippasmith2 Posts: 3,742
    I think you are worrying for no reason - if the water was simply stagnant, it will soak into the surrounding ground ( lawn, beds ).
    I doubt it will affect anything in the garden .  The smell will dissipate in time - it isn't dangerous to either human or wildlife.
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    There's no chance it has caused the drains or septic tank to overflow is there? There's no way the pool water alone would account for such a smell in less than a week of sitting around but it might have displaced water from elsewhere.
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    You should see how many perfectly healthy plants and trees grow in and around unaerated ditches, moats and ponds, water from which, from time to time overflows or finds it’s way onto meadows and other green spaces … with absolutely no harm resulting. 

    I’m puzzled as to why the water smells … something else is going on … was there an attempt for the water to be channelled down some old drains or similar perhaps? 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    I too think that something else is going on. Even if someone had pooed in the swimming pool, I can't imagine it would reek that badly after a week, that you couldn't hose it off.
  • SkandiSkandi Posts: 1,723
    Just think how terrible nettle tea smells, old water won't hurt plants so long as they are not standing in it. If it's soaked in it's fine. you can rinse it off the chairs etc with some fresh water, BUT if as others have suggested the problem with smell is that it's overfilled a drain then that will make the smell worse.

  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    I always reckon stinky water is full of plant nutrients. But this stink should not happen after a few days. There's definitely something else going on.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • raisingirlraisingirl Posts: 7,093
    I agree with the others, the smell isn't the pool water. Tap water in the UK (if that's where you are) has enough chlorine in it that it can 'stand' for a week without growing anything. The source of the smell must be something else that the spill has damaged, flooded or displaced. You need to figure out what that could be to know if it could be harmful.
    Comfrey tea has one of the worst stinks known to man and it's very good for plants. 
    Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon

    “It's still magic even if you know how it's done.” 
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited June 2021
    Basically … if otherwise clean standing tapwater becomes foul within a week you should be talking to your water supply company and Public Health https://cdn.dwi.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/01145349/DWI_England_DrinkingWaterSafety_February2021.pdf

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • FlyDragonFlyDragon Posts: 834
    How old is the son?   :D
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