New to water butts - advice needed

[Dave Brown]

I've had a water butt for a couple of years now, but only used it in the polytunnel and was filled from the hose. I've now moved it to the Lunar Module and plumbed it into the downpipe.

It wasa bit trial and error to start with and missed the first 3 lots of rain. First time it was the connecting pipe kinked upward and water won't run up hill 2nd time still no water but couldn't work out why ???? 3rd time I went out while it was raining, and spot the deliberate mistake the tap was in the 'on' position Must have been from when I drained it before moving it

Ok on the fourth attempt I'm actually collecting water but when I remove the lid it doesn't smell too good, I didn't notice this with tap water, so questions are

- is it normal to smell bad ?
- am I supposed to leave the lid off ?
- how long can this be stored, as not even filled fully yet ?

I checked the garage roof (Catchment area) for anything dead, and nothing, just a flat felt roof.

[karl66]

Dave, not sure about the last two parts of your question but the bad smell could be coming off any standing moss you have on your flat roof?, as you know i'm a roofer & some of the old debris we bag up makes you puke? karl.

[flounder]

It does sound like green stuff breaking down. I get that occasionally with moss and leaves getting washed down into the butt. I did start putting a leg off some old tights over the down pipe to collect debris, but run out of cable ties to hold it on!

[Kristen]

- am I supposed to leave the lid off ?

I wouldn't, the light will encourage green stuff to grow.

Having said that I don't use a water butt with a tap - takes too long to fill a can - I have ones with large openings at the top so I can "dunk" the can and fill it in a couple of seconds; but taking lid off each time is a bit of a chore so I'm don't always bother to put it back.

- how long can this be stored, as not even filled fully yet ?

Its a circular buffer really, so there will be some water in the bottom when the next refill arrives, so anything growing in there will pollute the next batch

Could you put some potassium permanganate in there perhaps?

[Tom2006]

Is it bad as in rotting? If yes, there must be some organic matter rotting in the butt? Maybe drain and check? If its all clear it will be fine. With it being relatively dry down there you will use the water up in no time so leaving it to stand wont be an issue, although it doesn't matter. I leave the lid on mine, but even if you didn't and it did go green the plants wont mind.

[Dave Brown]

mmm..... there is the odd bit of moss and mud on the roof, but it only takes input water from the outer the edge of the downpipe, so should not get large debris into the butt.

I'm loathed to leave the lid off as it will become a breeding ground for midges and mosquitos. With regards to potassium permanganate, not sure how that works, or where I could get it, but I have H2O2 (Hydrogen Peroxide), which fizzes bacteria and oxygenates the water. Also the plants love it, as gets oxygen to the roots

[GoggleboxUK]

Mine in the temple also smells. It was like that right from the word go when the gutters were perfectly clear but it did get worse with time as nesting birds were dropping organic matter as they flew over.

I cleaned out the gutters and it lessened but you have to bear in mind that a high proportion of dust is human skin and that's organic so any dust settling on your flat roof will be washed into your water butt after a downpour. The reason rainwater is dorty is because the atmosphere is full of organic dust matter.

I have always considered it a good thing, any organic matter breaking down in the water will add nutrients to it.

Leave the lid on but you might want to avoid future problems by fitting a stop valve into the pipe if you don't already have one. When mine is full it tends to overflow from the lid and soak the ground around it. Not so bad for me as its a concrete flagged floor and it you have a gravel or dirt floor it could be messy. Now adays I tend to just pull the hose out of the water butt and clip it in place at an upward angle above the gutter height to stop it spilling.

[Dave Brown]

Mine in the temple also smells. It was like that right from the word go when the gutters were perfectly clear but it did get worse with time as nesting birds were dropping organic matter as they flew over.

I cleaned out the gutters and it lessened but you have to bear in mind that a high proportion of dust is human skin and that's organic so any dust settling on your flat roof will be washed into your water butt after a downpour. The reason rainwater is dorty is because the atmosphere is full of organic dust matter.

I have always considered it a good thing, any organic matter breaking down in the water will add nutrients to it.

Leave the lid on but you might want to avoid future problems by fitting a stop valve into the pipe if you don't already have one. When mine is full it tends to overflow from the lid and soak the ground around it. Not so bad for me as its a concrete flagged floor and it you have a gravel or dirt floor it could be messy. Now adays I tend to just pull the hose out of the water butt and clip it in place at an upward angle above the gutter height to stop it spilling.

Ok that sounds about it, as loads of Collared Doves here. They fly like a bird, but crappe like an Elephant

The Wicks water butt came with a free downpipe connection kit that is inserted into the down pipe, This is inserted 10mm below the top of the butt, so once full to that level all the downpipe water goes to the soakaway.
http://www.wickes.co.uk/rain-diverter-kit/invt/543003/

[GoggleboxUK]

Yep that's what came with mine too, doesn't work

If the connection to the downpipe (or guttering in my case) is higher than the water level then the water just keeps flowing. It WOULD stop, as I expected, IF the lid had an airtight seal but it doesn't.

[Kristen]

Probably overkill, but just for info. you can get "first flush diverters" for rainwater harvesting. These are designed to let the first X amount of water bypass the water butt, so that all the crud goes down the drain, rather than into the rainwater harvesting tanks; they are supposed to take the leaves etc with the first flush, but there are also Wisy (sp?) filters that take care of leaves / moss etc and are self cleaning.

Re Potassium permanganate: Google turned up lots of "hearsay" threads, but I didn't find anything conclusive, just remember the old boys putting it in the water butts way-back-when. This was probably the most useful link. Doesn't say anything about Peroxide though (I know we are looking for an oxidising reaction, but it seems that Potassium and Manganese may add to the reaction more than just O2 will do)
http://www.ehow.com/about_5179576_potas ... tment.html

[Dave Brown]

Yep that's what came with mine too, doesn't work

If the connection to the downpipe (or guttering in my case) is higher than the water level then the water just keeps flowing. It WOULD stop, as I expected, IF the lid had an airtight seal but it doesn't.

It has to be 10mm BELOW the top of the butt, see red line on pic. Then when the butt gets to that level it doesn't flow from the downpipe any more

[fieldfest]

might just be the heat of being in the lunar module is cooking the smellies up. my outdoor butt never smells bad even when i dont use it for ages.

wouldnt put your smelly water on seedlings/young plants though

[Kristen]

wouldnt put your smelly water on seedlings/young plants though

FWIW I only use tap water for seedlings - less cause of algae growing on surface and damping off etc. (best to bottom-water seedlings anyway, if poss, to keep surface dry)

[GoggleboxUK]

Thanks Dave, that would explain why mine doesn't work because I don't have a downpipe (due to aesthetics when designing) and instead have the widget attached to the side of the guttering inside the timber/concrete enclosure.

Still, the occasional spill on winter days helps the humidity, soon dries up and gives me a good indicator of when the butt is full

[Dim]

add a full bottle of Milton baby milk bottle sterilizer into the waterbut (costs a pound from Tesco) ..... fill the waterbut with water from the hose ..... mix it with a broom handle and let it stand overnight

the next day, drain it (dispose of the water down a street drain or your toilet drain) .... and let it fill up again from rain ....

if it still smells, the problem is with your roof/gutters (rotting leaves etc?) ....

if it does not smell again after the Milton Sterilizer, there is/was rotting algae etc in your waterbut (from when it stood semi-empty)