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State of Water in Water Butts

2

Posts

  • cressercresser Posts: 26

    Welshonion, Hi, how do you manage to keep water so long without a pong?? what sort of butt is it in. cheers, cresser

  • WelshonionWelshonion Posts: 3,114

    All my water is in plastic ex-chemical barrels and ex-fruitjuice concentrate barrels.  None of it smells.  The trick is to keep the lid on at all times. Allowing of course water to flow into them from the drainpipes through water diverters.

  • waterbuttswaterbutts Posts: 1,232

    I was wandering around Stratford upon Avon yesterday and found that they had a branch of Lakeland Plastics there. Just my sort of shop. What did I find inside? A product made from silver and copper which you sprinkle into any container of water that requires cleaning up - fish tanks, animal drinking troughs and.....Waterbutts!

    I didn't buy one because I don't have the problem but, if you want to order one (Lakeland are a fantastic company and don't sell tat) they cost £5.99 and are called Fresha Tank Water Cleaner sachets. Their ref: 50909. They are out of stock online but will send one from their Windemere headquarters if you get in touch, they say.

  • Alan4711Alan4711 Posts: 1,657
    hi iv been using the big blue dairy farmers disinfectant barrels 40 gallon ,cut the top of and leave it sitting on top to stop anything falling in, they never smell and i wash in winter with jeyes fluid as it says on the tin or spray,probs often occur with light coloured plastic they need painting black,im just ordering a new 1000gall but and its a little more expensive to get a black one as they dont green up so much as the others , iv also noticed the farmers here are starting to put these blue butts into the local farm auctions as they are non returnable and fetch about ??12 each but well worth it ,

    Alan
  • WelshonionWelshonion Posts: 3,114

    Hi Alan that's just what I use.  Cut the top off just under the rim, loosen one of the plugs, reverse the top and water will flow in every time it rains.

  • DianaWDianaW Posts: 62

    I'm principally using a 1500 underground rainwater tank, taking the entire rainfall flowing off slate roofs. It holds enough for about 3 weeks' watering of all my pots and veg patch (as long as I don't also water the lawn) in an entirely dry spell like last summer. The water is only a couple of feet under ground level but stays tepid all year round.

    No problem with scum etc but I do have to clean leaf rubbish out of the tank's internal filter every so often. I'd skim scum off the top of water in an above-ground butt and then use the water on the earth around plants, not the leaves etc.

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,102

    Smokin Donkey,

    Mike was referring to watering the garden, he wasn't equating the water from a butt with potable water from the tap.  He said ".... Any natural bugs, spores etc that may develp in a water butt are relatively harmless, when it come to watering the garden. ...."

    And I can assure you that human urine is frequently used as an activator on compost heaps in this garden image


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





  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,441

    It's water, full of stuff that's in the surroundings.

    I'd put it on the garden, but not on leaves I'd be eating.

    I wouldn't drink it.

    Everyone has opinions, that's fine, I acknowledge  SD's opinion, and Dove's and Mike's 

    and my ownimage



    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • DianaWDianaW Posts: 62

    Seconded, nutcutlet.

  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,441

    image



    In the sticks near Peterborough
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